


In Hushed Whispers

by heckyeons



Category: VIXX
Genre: Dragon Age AU, M/M, it's really not that bad i swear, magic stuff, some gore?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2018-07-18 00:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7292062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heckyeons/pseuds/heckyeons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’d think, as the only elf out of all of us,” Wonshik sighed, watching Hyuk try to translate new runes on the wall, “you’d know when not to mess with old elfy shit.”<br/>“And you’d think," Hyuk countered quickly, "as the only Vint in the room, you’d know when to stop telling elves what to do.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Hushed Whispers

**Author's Note:**

> So I play a lot of Dragon Age......... And I listen to a lot of Vixx...... Things in this fic probably won't be 100% accurate but I did do a lot of research however I kinda gotta bend the rules with some things ya feel me. Um I wanna make this a full fic which is why I'm putting it here and I've got Denise giving me all kinds of ideas and letting me vent ideas to her so that should help my motivation to actually finish something oH WELL WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS anyways pls enjoy

        "Hyuk, I'm starting to think this is a bad idea."

        "You know what, Wonshik? I'm starting to think that you've got no sense of adventure."

        Four young men, and one elf, stepped over the threshold of an ancient elven temple. High archways and large, heavy wooden doors marked the entrance. Moss and vines covered the stone walls, illuminated only by the light from the outside. Everything that the light didn't touch was shrouded in darkness.

        "Maker, this is creepy." Wonshik shivered.

        "Hey." Hongbin chuckled, nudging Wonshiks shoulder as he passed with Taekwoon. "Think of the money."

        "What makes you think there's going to be something valuable in here?" Wonshik countered, following him reluctantly. Besides Wonshik, Jaehwan lit up a flame in his palm, using it to light the way.

        "If there's not, it'll still be fun, right?" The blonde hummed, ever positive. Wonshik just shuddered again.

        "It's just an old building!" Hyuk laughed at him, knocking his knuckle against the stone wall. "What could go wrong?"

\--

        "Let's go into the ancient elven temple, you said!" Wonshik yelled, bringing his sword down hard on the shoulder of a demon. "What could go wrong, you said!"

        Hyuk stood next to him, fighting as well. "I didn't know this would happen!" he replied, stabbing a walking corpse in the shoulder. He tried to shake it off as another approached, but ended up planting a foot on it's chest and pushing it off instead. As the second enemy lifted it's arm to attach him, an arrow pierced its head and it collapsed. Hyuk whipped around to see who had made the shot. Taekwoon was already pulling back another arrow.

        Behind them, holding a torch lit with veilfire and a crusty old human hand, Jaehwan shrieked. "I didn't know this would happen either!"

        "You could have thought to be more careful, using magic and shit to unearth a decrepit fucking _hand_ , Jaehwan!" Hongbin yelled back from across the room, letting an arrow loose. "Why do you even need that thing!"

        "The ritual in the sanctuary." Taekwoon quipped in quietly. "It's half done."

        "Why do we have to be the ones to finish it?" Wonshik asked, finishing off the last of the demons and whipping around to look at Jaehwan. Before he could answer, Wonshik scrunched up his nose and recoiled. "Ew, you're holding that thing with your _hands_."

        Jaehwan crossed the room towards him, carefully stepping over the dead demons and lighting the way with his rippling blue fire. "You've got no sense of adventure." He teased as he passed. Wonshik couldn't believe, after all this time, they still considered playing it safe as vanilla.

        He followed everyone back out into the sanctuary. When they had first entered the temple, it had taken them a while to get here. Lots of cryptic notes from long dead treasure hunters, twists, turns, and shadows. Then, after what had seemed like an eternity of walking in a dark, cramped hallway with only Jaehwan's fire to light the way, it had opened up to a large room the size of a courtyard. The ceilings were so tall, they couldn't see the. The middle of the room dropped to what looked like a manmade pond, with a platform holding a statue at one end. The light of the torches around the room reflected off the water and illuminated the large room with a sort of glow. Upon closer inspection, and wet boots, the platform also had six empty stands on it, as well as an open book that read, 

        _I know these platforms are for something. I just can't figure out what. Complete the ritual, and something will happen. I'm not sure what, but Erik said there'd be green light, and gold. Haven't seen any of that yet. The runes say those totems need fire, but I don't think normal fire is working. I have to figure it out. Not much time left..._

Totems? They asked themselves what totems the book was talking about. Hongbin had flipped through the thing, but only found a couple other legible passages that had to do with this ritual. Hyuk, ever adventurous, suggested they try it out. Taekwoon, to Wonshik's dismay, nodded in agreement. Why were his friends such idiots?

        Hyuk's curiousity lead them to a room where darkness coated everything, even the fire in jaehwans palm. They found the runes first. Hyuk wrote them off as some ancient elves worshiping their leader or something. When they stumbled across the totem, a small dragon holding a bowl by a chain between its teeth, Jaehwan tried real fire. Of course, as the book said, nothing happened. They stood in darkness while Jaehwan mulled it over, then snapped his fingers as he figured it out. 

       "Of course! Veilfire!" he had said. One torch burning cobalt blue veilfire later, and an angry scream shook the room. Then the demons appeared. Wonshik cursed himself for not being able to let his friends be curious and die on their own.

        Now he and the rest of them stood in front of the great statue again while Jaehwan tried to figure out which stand he should put the nasty looking hand on. Hongbin was flipping through the book, Hyuk peeking over his shoulder to find any clues.

        "Do you think it matters where I put it?" Jaehwan asked, pursing his lips.

        "Of course it matters." Hyuk replied. "It's an ancient elven ritual. It's all very precise."

        "Well," Jaehwan frowned at Hyuk, "do you see anything about it in there?"

        Hyuk didn't answer, but Hongbin shook his head. "There's nothing."

        "Just pit it down somewhere." Taekwoon interrupted, taking the hand from Jaehwan and placing it on a nearby stand. Suddenly, a green light shone up from under the water in the pond. 

        "So, either it really doesn't matter, or Taekwoon is really lucky." Hongbin smiled, putting the book down.

        "One down, five to go." Hyuk grinned, his pointed ears twitching excitedly as he lead the way back out into the temple. 

        All of Wonshik's friends were idiots.

\--

        "You'd think, as the only elf out of all of us," Wonshik sighed, watching Hyuk try to translate new runes on the wall, "you'd know when not to mess with old elfy shit."

        "An you'd think, as the only Vint in the room, you'd know when to stop telling elves what to do." Hyuk countered quickly. Hongbin stifled a chuckle, but Wonshik rolled his eyes.

        "You've used that one a hundred times before."

        "And it gets better every time." Hyuk smirked to himself. "Now be quiet, I'm trying to read this."

        Wonshik did fall silent, but silence only meant that his ears picked up every drop of water, every breath, and every echo of a footstep in a place where there should be none. He was grateful when Hyuk spoke again.

        "This one is a little different." He said. "Before, they were praising their leader, and saying that they'd follow him wherever. This one leads me to believe things weren't really... as they seemed."

        "Is you reading these really necessary?" Taekwoon asked, crossing his arms. "We're wasting time."

        "Actually, finding out what happened to the elves here could give us foresight as to what we're up against, or what the ritual will do." Jaehwan replied. "There are runes here, so there must be a totem around here somewhere, right?"

        "Will it scream and send demons again?" Wonshik asked, following them as they started on their way again.

        "Most likely." Hongbin shrugged.

        "And you guys are going to do it anyways?" Wonshik continued, even though he already knew the answer.

        Hyuk gave him a wry smirk over his shoulder. "Yep."

        "I hate all of you." Wonshik grumbled. Hyuk's loud laughter echoed off the walls and into the empty sanctuary.

\--

        A goblet of veilfire into a dragon's pot lead to another angry shriek, which lead to another fight with another round of demons. Wonshik didn't know if he could do this four more times. They traveled back to the sanctuary, back to the statue, and tried to figure out where to put the second prize. A heart this time. Gross. At this point in their journey, Wonshik knew that there was no hope of turning his friends back. Marybe, at least, he could hope that there was some way of convincing them to be cautious.

        "Does anyone actually know what this is going to do?" Wonshik cocked his head at his four friends. "This is a hand and a heart, so I can only guess that the rest of the prizes are going to be body parts too. You don't think we're... Reassembling something?"

        "Can you even do that?" Hongbin asked, looking at Hyuk, who shrugged.

        "Taekwoon," He said, instead of answering their question. "Why don't you take it and put it down somewhere . Either you have luck, or the magic touch, or something, but let's just try to duplicate it."

        Taekwoon nodded and took the heart, looking around at the empty stands for a moment before walking towards one and setting it down. Another green light shown through the water, next to the last one.

        "How did you know to put it there?" Wonshik asked incredulously. Taekwoon just looked at him and shrugged. Ah yes, a man of few words. Wonshik should have known he wasn't going to get a full answer.

        As they went along, they found runes for every one of the totems, each of them revealing more of the story of the elves who used to live there, until Hyuk was more unnerved than Wonshik had ever seen him. He knelt with Jaehwan on the floor to decipher the last rune, low on the wall, but as he read, Wonshik could see his brows furrowing.

        "They... He was sacrificing them, their leader. They killed him in the end. They disassembled him." Hyuk said quietly.

        "That's what it says?" Taekwoon asked.

        "That's what it says." Hyuk nodded, standing up. "Gods... All of those body parts are..."

        "I told you, we could be reassembling something we don't need to bring back. What do we have now? A hand, a heart, eyes, ears, a foot... Do we really want to see where this leads?" Wonshik frowned. Maybe he could finally get them to give this up.

        "Well, we've gotten this far." Jaehwan replied, standing up as well. "And everyone is generally okay. I think we can take whatever we bring back, yeah?"

        "I think that's probably a naive assumption." Wonshik sighed, giving up once again.

        "Let's finish it." Taekwoon piped up again, turning all eyes on him. "If he really was killing his own people, he deserves to die for good."

        There was a moment of silence before Wonshik groaned, rubbing his face in exhaustion. "Fine. Let's finish it."

        No one was surprised when the screech sounded at the lighting of the dragon's cup. Everyone turned to face the demons, too focused on fighting and keeping up their energy to worry about what horrid body part had been offered up this time. When the battle was over, Hyuk and Wonshik stood panting over a pile of dead demons, and Jaehwans shriek bounced off the stone walls.

        "What! What is it!" Wonshik whipped his head around, sword up and ready to fight again, but there was no enemy. Just Jaehwan, and a severed head sitting neatly in the bowl held by a snarling dragon.

        "Andraste's tits, it's a fucking head!" he exclaimed, stumbling back.

        "A what?" Wonshik frowned, even though he could clearly see the head, it's eyes gouged out and it's flesh rotten.

        "Maker, Jaehwan really just screamed 'Andraste's tits' in the middle of a fucking elven ruin." Hongbin chuckled, trying to stifle it with his hand. Apparently, Hyuk saw the irony in it too, because he started laughing as well. Taekwoon told them both to shut up.

        "What's next?" Hyuk only laughed harder, putting a hand on Hongbin's shoulder for support. "Justinia's nips?" Hongbin doubled over, the two of them leaning against each other and the wall, with Taekwoon glaring a hole through their backs.

        "Would you two please shut up?" Jaehwan snapped at them. "I'm not touching that thing!"

        "Oh, you'll touch the eyes, the heart, the hand, but you won't touch the head?" Wonshik asked Jaehwan exasperatedly.

        "It has a face!" Jaehwan protested.

        "Eyes are _part_ of a face!" Wonshik countered, ready to argue until Taekwoon swooped in and picked up the head himself. 

        "Can we just go?" He raised an eyebrow at them, like a father who was losing his patience. He started heading for the exit to find their way back to the santuary, and Wonshik went after him, followed by a disgusted Jaehwan and two idiots laughing their asses off.

\--

        "Well, there's only one spot left." Hongbin pointed out as they returned to the statue where they had started. Everything was in place. Five out of six green lights shown in a circle in the shallow water. The dead treasure hunter's book was laid open on the ground in front of the statue. He went over to it and picked it up, flipping through it once again for clues.

        "What happens after you place all the body parts?" Jaehwan asked, walking over to look over his shoulder. "Maybe a chant or something? Do elven spells even use chants?"

        Hyuk looked over Hongbin's other shoulder as Jaehwan watched him expectantly. He glanced up at the blonde and gave him a shrug.

        "Maker, Hyuk, what are you good for? I thought you studied this stuff." Jaehwan groaned exasperatedly. 

        "What good is it to study magic when I'm not magically inclined?" Hyuk replied casually, his eyes on the old pages of the book again. Wonshik flocked over to them too, joined by Taekwoon after he placed the head on its stand, all five of them standing with their backs to the water.

        "It doesn't say anything about chanting or whatever." Hongbin sighed. "What's this stupid book for, if it doesn't give us any clues as to what happens next?"

        "Well his guy didn't really get that far, right?" Wonshik reminded Hongbin.

        "Does that mean it's the end? The ritual is over?" Hyuk asked.

        "I guess." Hongbin shrugged.

        "What?" Hyuk frowned. "It didn't do anything! This su-"

        A wave crashed in the pool behind them, causing Hyuk to cut himself off mid-sentence. The five of them turned around to see a dark, lithe elf, curled in on himself in the water. He clutched a knife to his chest, wore nothing but rags for pants, and rocked back in forth as he looked around in panic. Taekwoon immediately started forward, pulling a dagger from his belt. Jaehwan rushed to stop him, holding his arm back before he could strike. The elf boy only flinched away, letting out a terrified yelp, his bare body trembling.

        "Don't, please don't hurt me! I had to, I had to do it, he was going to kill me! He killed... He killed everyone, please, I cut him up, but only because I had to... He was my father, but I had to..." His protests turned into sobs as he curled up tighter, his Elvish mixing with his English.

        "Don't, Taekwoon, it's not him." Jaehwan urged, easing the blade from Taekwoon's hand.

        "What do we do?" Wonshik asked, stepping forward with Hyuk and Hongbin at each side. "It's not their leader?"

        "His son." Taekwoon scowled, stepping away. "It must be. I don't know what to do." 

        Hyuk looked down at the elf for a moment, then knelt down beside him. "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you." He said, reaching out a hand tentatively and putting it on his shoulder. The elf flinched away, then looked up at Hyuk's friends and scooted backwards in the water. Hyuk got the idea and waved them away, then blocked his view of them with his body.

        "Hey, it's just me, okay?" Hyuk tried again, then pointed to his ears, and the twin tattoos on his cheekbones. "I'm like you, see? I'm an elf. We're the same. You can talk to me. My vallaslin is of Mythal. I'll protect you." 

        The elf slowly at up, then looked at the bloody knife in his hands for a moment before throwing it aside. He watched it splash into the water with an expression made of disgust and horror.

        "What happened here?" Hyuk questioned, reminding himself to speak carefully. He didn't want to spook the elf, he just wanted answers.

        "He killed all of us." The elf replied, his eyes distant, staring at the ripples in the water from the splash of the knife. "He was my father. I... I finished the ritual. I took him apart."

        "You lived here?" Hyuk asked.

        The elf nodded, his voice soft. "This was my home... We used to worship here... I don't remember a lot... I was somewhere odd for a very long time..." After a moment, he lifted his head and looked past Hyuk, to his friends. "Why are they here?" he asked.

        "They're my friends. We travel together."

        "They're humans."

        "Yeah. This place is ancient... I think this is the future for you. Things are different now. Humans and elves live side by side." Hyuk explained, then backed up in his brain and cocked his head to the side. "Well, relatively..." he corrected.

        "What do you mean?" The elf asked, cocking his head as if mimicking Hyuk.

        Hyuk decided it was all too much to explain to him in a dark, dank temple while he was kneeling in a pol of water in front of a half-naked elf. "You know what? My name is Hyuk. We can talk about it later, if you come with me." He said, standing up and holding a hand out to the elf.

        The elf seemed to look around himself, at the ruins of the place he used to live, at the remains of his father in front of the statue. Slowly, he reached up, took Hyuk's hand, and stood.

        "They used to call me Hakyeon."


	2. From The Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These people were different than the ones he used to know, but they had all put aside their differences to be together. From the ashes of their past they rose to create a new family with a new dynamic.

        "So, how do you all... Know each other?"

        Six unlikely companions sat around a campfire, their faces lit only by the dim, flickering light it provided. The ancient elf spoke first, with a question that would take all five of the others to answer. It was time for the awkward introductions to finally be made. Hyuk hadn't missed the way Hakyeon had silently stuck by his side on their walk from the temple, side-eyeing the humans in their group like they would steal something from him. Well, they _would_ steal something, that's what they did, but not in this particular situation. Hyuk wished he'd loosen up, but he knew enough about how tense things were between humans and elves back when Hakyeon had lived to tell it was a silly thing to ask of him.

        "How do we know each other?" Hongbin repeated from his spot kneeling in front of the fire. He broke a stick and threw it into the flames. "Um, it's kind of a long story."

        "Well, who wants to go first?" Hyuk asked.

        "I want his story first." Hakyeon pointed at Wonshik. He looked suspicious, which made Hyuk purse his lips. "He's from Tevinter. Why is he here?"

        Wonshik looked a little nervous at that. Way back when, the Tevinter Imperium had conquered and enslaved elves. Even though lots of them had been freed back during the first Exalted March, Tevinter did not stop keeping slaves. Just like they did not stop practicing blood magic, no matter how many fake bills were passed against it. 

        "Ah, you want me to go first...?" Wonshik rubbed the back of his neck and gave a nervous chuckle. "Alright..."

\--

      _Wonshik's sister turned ten the morning they learned about her magical ability. He had walked into his father's shop and heard him ranting about all his merchandise encased in ice. The old man hadn't even stopped to think about how it had happened until Wonshik pointed out that ice couldn't_ just happen _in the middle of a Tevinter summer. That was when his sister came out and told them all she had done it. She was afraid. She'd never done something like this before. All she had to do was reach out to touch the pretty jewels on the counter for everything to suddenly be covered in ice._

_Instead of being angry, like she thought her father would be, he was delighted. A mage in a family of Soporati? It would bring their family glory, lift them out of debt, should she exceed in her studies. Wonshik was happy for her. But when they sent her to the Imperial Circle to receive training, Wonshik didn't know what to do. He had always been close to his sister, and without her around, being at home was just plain boring._

_So, being the young man he was, he decided to pack up and leave home. All merchants have to travel the world before returning home and selling things, right? That's what his father used to say, along with 'Don't die!' and 'Send money!'. When he left, he headed southeast into the Free Marches. It wasn't long until he heard talk about corrupt Circles. He knew, as someone from Tevinter, corrupt Circles in the Free Marches weren't really any of his business. However, it took him about thirty seconds to think of his own little sister being subjected to the things those mages had to go through before he decided to help. He joined a cause to fight against it. For a time, he traveled with them, until the hype rose and they gained enough recruits to help at Kirkwall. That was where he met Jaehwan._

_\--_

        "You met Jaehwan before you met everyone else?" Hakyeon asked, cocking his head.

        "Yeah, we've been together for longer than the rest of these losers." Jaehwan smiled fondly.

        "How long has it been again?" Wonshik asked, glancing at the mage.

        "Maybe... Three years? Four now?" Jaehwan hummed thoughtfully. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, his eyes unfocused as he retreated back into his memories. "I was a part of the Kirkwall Circle. Things there were... They were bad."

        Hakyeon scooted forward to listen to his story, prompting him onward. "How bad?"

\--

_A small boy named Jaehwan, about five years old, stood at the gates of the Gallows. The building had a dark history, but the hopeful thoughts of a young boy did away with all the bad. He thought only about his magic, and how there would be lots of people like him here, and how he would get lots and lots of letters from his mom, his brother, his friends from home, maybe even his dog. Could dogs write letters?_

_He started his new life with enthusiasm. He made friends in the Circle, and learned about the history of music, and how to use it. He paid no mind to the Tranquil, who watched him play with empty eyes. He could usually ignore the Templars, whose eyes followed him with suspicion and hate, no matter how much he smiled at them. As he grew, things got worse._

_Letters from his family and friends from home stopped coming. Mages were being made Tranquil for no reason other than a dirty look at a Templar. He stopped smiling at Templars, and they stopped pretending they didn't hate him for what he was. He stopped playing too, after they threatened to take away his soul, give him empty eyes just for causing a bit of trouble. Any mage could see that the Templars were too suspicious. They were abusing their power. The numbers of the Tranquil were growing and the Chantry sat by and did nothing. Jaehwan was afraid for the first time._

_Tensions rose until the Kirkwall Chantry exploded at the hand of a mage. The entire town erupted into chaos. It was a full-fledged battle. Templars had orders to kill every mage in the Circle, and mages had no choice but to fight back. Jaehwan was hiding when Wonshik found him. The man opened the closet door and shed light on a cowering mage. Jaehwan almost blasted Wonshik's head off._

_"Get away from me!"_

_"I'm here to help you. I'm going to get you out of here. It's going to be okay."_

_Jaehwan and Wonshik fled the battle together. The two have stuck together ever since._

_\--_

       "Wow. That sounds terrible." Hakyeon said, his eyes wide with wonder where before they had been narrowed in suspicion. He turned to Wonshik. "You saved him?"

        "Not before he nearly killed me, but yeah. We got out alive." Wonshik replied. "And as much as I want to help this country and the mages here, it's too much. As long as I'm still getting letters from my sister, and Jaehwan is alive and well, I'm not going to stick my nose into things that don't concern me."

        "I don't hold it against him. I wouldn't go back to another Circle if you paid me the riches of a thousand kings." Jaehwan shuddered. "After Kirkwall, there's no way."

        "Well, what about the rest of you?" Hakyeon asked. "How did you all meet?"

        "I'm from Redcliffe." Taekwoon said quietly.

        "No you're not." Hongbin corrected immediately, rolling his eyes. Taekwoon narrowed his eyes at the younger, but it just made him laugh. "Can't you hear the accent? He's from Orlais. A _noble_ , too." 

        "Would you shut up?" Taekwoon huffed, slapping Hongbin on the arm. "I'll tell him."

\--

_Jung Taekwoon was born as the third son of the duke of Montsimmard in Orlais. As a timid but honest child, he found the climate of Orlais unpleasant, to say the least. Why couldn't he just say what needed to be said?_

_"No, mother, her dress is atrocious."_

_His other gave him a look of disdain, so quick only he could understand that she resented his comment. She then fanned herself and found a way to recover by complimenting the woman in question about her business tactcs, or how she married her first daughter off to a wealthier house. She must be_ so _smart._

_As a duke, his father had to hold parties to keep up his image. Taekwoon overheard many things while pretending to read. When he asked his father questions about his overheard conversations later, he received answers of, "Oh do shut up, Taekwoon, if you don't know what you're talking about. If someone hears you asking such a stupid question, it'll be stuck with me for life."_

_He learned just to be silent. In Orlais, breathe the wrong way and you'll start a war._

_As soon as he could, he got away. As a boy, he learned archery and swordplay, so he already owned armor and a bow. His family didn't need him, the youngest son, the black sheep. So he just took what he could carry and left without a word._

_\--_

       "I made it all the way to Redcliffe before I met these idiots." Taekwoon sighed, gesturing to the rest of the circle. "I was a bartender, until they lost me my job." 

        "What's a bartender?" Hakyeon asked, cocking his head.

        "It's like... You serve alcohol at a brothel or something. They kind of stand behind counters and they're supposed to engage in small talk." Hyuk explained, then cracked a smile. "I bet Taekwoon was the worst at it."

        "I was not." Taekwoon scowled.

        "Whatever gets you to sleep at night, big guy." Hyuk shook his head, stifling a chuckle with his hand.

        "It paid for food and drink and a roof over my head, so I don't think I can complain." Taekwoon replied, frowning at him.

        "He's right." Hakyeon smiled at Hyuk, his eyes narrowing playfully.

        "Oh, the youngblood is getting bold, huh?" Hongbin teased, still kneeling in front of the fire.

        "I'm actually probably much older than all of you." Hakyeon said matter-of-factly. "Plus, I still don't know where you're from."

        "Well," Hongbin began. "I'm from Ferelden."

\--

         _A boy of fourteen years stepped cautiously into his ransacked home. His door had been torn off the hinges, the table flipped on its side, chairs broken in half and on fire. Light flooded into the small house from the back door as well, but his eyes were stuck on the body of his father, flesh torn enough to make the boy's stomach churn._

_"Pop?" He called, but his voice was quiet, afraid. This was a dream. This had to be a dream. He approached his father carefully, avoiding the growing pool of blood on the floor. He couldn't bring himself to reach down and touch the man, but he could, just barely, bring himself to tear his eyes away. Near the fireplace was his brother, who had suffered the same fate. Where was his mother? His sister? God, he was going to throw up, how could this happen, who would-_

_"Hongbin?"_

_The boy whipped his head up at his sister's voice. He ran towards it, past the kitchen and another body that could only be his mother's. His sister was lying just outside the back door, her dress covered in blood from a wound in her chest. He knelt beside her, cradling her head in his lap and looking for something, anything he could do._

_"Hongbin, where were you?" She asked, her  voice small and weak. "It hurts. I'm scared." She continued. "I don't want to die..."_

_He couldn't bring himself to reply. He had been out in the fields. He hadn't heard the struggle, until the screaming came. He had come as fast as he could, intending to arrive in time to save his family. Instead, he had wandered through his trashed house and saw the people he loved ripped open, dead on the floor. He tried his best to hold back his tears._

_"Hongbin. Hongbin, it hurts." She cried, but she was losing her breath. "Where are the rest of them...? Where are they?"_

_"You'll see them soon." Hongbin choked back tears as her breath stopped coming, and he bent to kiss her forehead. His darling little sister, who had admired their smart brother and their hard working father. The girl who had daydreamed about opening up a bakery in their small town was dead in his arms. He could do nothing to help her now._

_The next hour was a blur of emotions. Fear, confusion, shock, and grief all left him crumpled by his sister's body, curled in on himself as he cried. When he regained the strength to stand, he was numb. Through a thick fog in his mind, he understood that he would want some way to remember his family when he was gone. He took his mother's wedding ring from her finger, along with his father's, and put them both on a chain around his neck. He took a letter from his brother, and one of his sister's recipes for cinnamon bread. From a shed next to their house he grabbed his father's bow and arrows, before he turned away and burned his old home to the ground._

_The Blight ended, the darkspawn were defeated, but it didn't bring his family back. He was just a poor farmer. He didn't deserve this, but he learned to live with it. He took odd jobs, did everything fro herding sheep, to hunting, to mercenary work. It gave him enough money for a roof over his head and shoes under his feet until that day in the bar in Redcliffe. He was looking for a job, but instead, he found something else._

_\--_

        "I guess I'm not all that mad about it. If I found you guys, it couldn't have been that bad." Hongbin shrugged.

        "Not all that mad? Come on, stepping into that bar was the best decision of your life, admit it." Hyuk smirked at Hongbin. "You met me, remember?"

        "I met you, and the rest of these guys, and got pulled into a line of work that barely makes any money." Hongbin rolled his eyes.

        "You may not make money, but I'll tell you what you do make." Hyuk's smirk widened into a grin slowly, wiggling his eyebrows at the older. When Hongbin started to smile back at him, Taekwoon cut in.

        "You two need to stop. At least give Hakyeon a day before you start being obscene."

        "I don't..." Hakyeon's eyebrows knit together in the middle as he tried to understand where the joke was going. "I don't understand."

        Hyuk laughed and slapped Hakyeon on the back. "It doesn't matter. We haven't gotten to my past yet! It's the best one, I promise." 

\--

_Hyuk grew up in Orlais, servant to a rich noble. Even though he was a city elf, since he was a child he found himself wondering about where he came from. So, whenever he could, he studied the Dalish. He learned about how, way back in the day, the Tevinter Imperium had conquered the elves and enslaved them. He learned about how Andraste and her barbarian army had marched on Tevinter, and the elven slaves, led by Shartan, had fought back against their masters in the confusion. Thanks to long nights of studying after even longer days of work, he knew about the Exalted March, the Dales, given to the elves by Andraste's sons, and then the fall of Halamshiral, in a holy war declared against the elves by a religion based on Andraste herself._

_Hyuk soon grew sick of Orlais, and the Maker, and every stupid little servant duty had to do. On a whim, he stole his master's armor and sword and ran away. The armor was ill-fitting, the sword too heavy, but it was the first thing that really made him feel alive. He was free. He wandered until he found a Dalish clan that would take him in, and by the time he was eighteen, he earned his vallaslin with them. About a year after getting his vallaslin, he decided it was time to go explore again. While he was with the elves, he received a sword that was made for him, but his armor was still too big and too heavy. He found himself in Redcliffee on the same day as everyone else, it seemed._

_\--_

       "So, I went to Redcliffe." Hyuk continued, "There are plenty of places to buy armor in Redcliffe, but first, I wanted a meal. So, I went to the bar. While I was there, three drunk assholes noticed me and started making fun of me. I ignored them for a while, because I'm excellent at ignoring people, but they started prodding at me and kicking me from where they sat and they were saying nasty stuff about my ears and all kinds of racist shit when- BAM!" He paused to gesture with his hands. Hakyeon jumped at the sudden noise. "This big Tevinter dude comes out of nowhere and get's between me and the guys, pulls one of them up by his shirt, and starts threatening him. Turns out, it was Wonshik. Taekwoon was the bartender, too, and Jaehwan was with Wonshik at the time. Hongbin was there too, but he just watched everything go down like the little shit he is"

        Hakyeon's eyes were wide and fixed on Hyuk. Taekwoon played with a stick in the campfire, catching the end on fire before pulling it up out of the flames and letting it burn. Hongbin, Wonshik, and Jaehwan looked amused at Hyuk's storytelling and how engrossed Hakyeon was in his words.

        "Anyways, Wonshik gets between us, and starts beating this guys' ass. Like, he's really going in. Jaehwan is trying to make him stop, but the drunk guy's friend, who was also drunk, just pops him in the face." As he spoke, Hyuk pretended to punch the invisible person in front of him square in the nose. "Well, Wonshik gets even more angry, and really starts pummeling them. Well, I figure if he's fightin' for me, I should probably help him out, so I do, and it's the two of us against three drunk guys, and Taekwoon, who's been trying to break us up since the start of the whole thing. Long story short, we beat the shit out of them, they threw us all out, and Taekwoon lost his job. Hongbin came around later and he was all 'Wow! That was so cool!' and I'm thinkin wow, this guy is really hot, right? But I thought it'd be a little embarrassing if I offered to suck his dick right then and there so I-"

        "Hyuk." Taekwoon interrupted, eyeing him over the campfire. The elf in question stopped in the middle of his sentence, his hands stuck in midair.

        "What?"

        "That's enough."

        "You always ruin all the fun." Hyuk pouted. His words were almost covered by Hongbin, who was laughing so hard by now that he was doubled over clutching his stomach.

        "Really, Hyuk? Really?" He laughed.

        "What!" Hyuk's expression was almost offended, looking around the circle at each of their faces. "I was just telling it how it happened!"

        "You two are so..." Jaehwan couldn't find the word, so he just sighed, rubbing the temples.

        "I don't understand." Hakyeon frowned, trying to put together the events in his head and figure out the joke that he missed.

        "All you have to know," Wonshik cut in, "Is that we all met in a bar fight, and we just continued to travel together after that. We just became a gang of thieves and treasure hunters." 

        "Because it's fun!" Hyuk smiled, nudging his shoulder against Hakyeon's.

        Taekwoon nodded. "Because it's fun."

        "And you came to the temple..." Hakyeon began again, still working things out in his brain.

        "To look for treasure." Wonshik finished." 

        "But we found you!" Jaehwan chimed in.

        "Which won't be a complete loss, if you prove that you're not utterly useless." Hongbin said bluntly, over his laughing fit by now.

        Taekwoon frowned and kicked him. "Be nice."

        "What! He's got to have something he's good at, right?"

        "I'm good at... Healing." Hakyeon said thoughtfully.

        "That's promising." Hongbin nodded, sounding pleased.

        "... I think." 

        "A little less promising." 

        The quick banter went on, until Taekwoon stood and the talking died down.

        "You all should sleep." He said, looking at all of them. "We should leave early tomorrow and get out of here. I'll take first watch. Wonshik, I'll wake you up when it's your turn." 

        "Heard that." Wonshik nodded as he stood. He stretched his arms over his head and cracked his joints. "Let's go to bed, Jaehwan."

        "Coming." Jaehwan stood as well, looking from Hyuk to Hongbin and back. Do us all a favor and refrain from doing anything gross tonight, okay?"

        "I don't know what you're talking about." Hongbin hummed, blinking innocently at him.

        "We have a newcomer. Just... Try to be polite." Jaehwan sighed. "Hakyeon, you can come with us." Hakyeon got up and started following them away from the fire and towards the area where they had set up the tents. Jaehwan continued to speak as he walked. "We can stop in a village tomorrow or the next day and get you your own bedroll and maybe some clothes that fit you. Until then, you can use my bedroll."

        "But if I use your bedroll, where will you sleep?" Hakyeon asked.

        "With Wonshik." Jaehwan shrugged. "He's a little big, but don't worry, if I need more room, I'll just push him off." He teased.

        "You're mean." Wonshik pouted, playing along as he reached inside the tent to grab Jaehwan's bedroll. He laid it on the ground just outside the tent, then looked up at Hakyeon. "Are you okay with sleeping outside?"

        Hakyeon felt slow. He missed so many jokes during their storytelling and had a hard time connecting the events that brought them all together. Even now he took so long figuring out Wonshik and Jaehwan's relationship by the implications of them sleeping together that he almost didn't hear the question.

        "Oh yeah! Yeah, it's okay. You two, um, you two take the tent. It's fine." Hakyeon said, plopping right down on the bedroll to show just how okay he was with sleeping outside. 

        "Call us if you need anything, okay?" Jaehwan smiled at him, just before he and Wonshik slipped inside the tent. Hakyeon nodded at them, then did his best to get comfortable.

        It was so strange, the situation he was in. He mulled it over as he slipped under the blankets, looking up at the stars in the night. He was pulled from the earth years and years ago, into a place where he was there, but not really, and everything was shrouded in green. He was violently yanked back to reality, into a time that was not his. These people were different than the ones he used to know, but they had all put aside their differences to be together. From the ashes of their past, they rose to create a new family with a new dynamic.

        Maybe, Hakyeon thought, there was still room for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *continues to name chapters after dragon age missions*  
> The reason this is up so fast after the first one is bc I wrote the first chapter like a week ago? So surprise, here's some backstories and explanation if you guys don't know dragon age well, it should set up the world a little better than the first chapter did. I also established some relationships? Some ~stuff~ will happen next time I think it'll be pretty rad so stick around n stuff


	3. What Pride Had Wrought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What was that?” Hyuk asked, his wide eyes on Hakyeon.
> 
> “Ritual.” Hakyeon slurred, standing up and stumbling backwards into Taekwoon’s chest. “Elven.”

It took the six of them two days to get to the nearest village. They camped outside of town for the night, even though Hyuk and Hongbin complained about it. They were _that close_ to proper beds, and Taekwoon expected them to sleep on the ground again? On the third morning, their quiet leader gathered them all and made an announcement over breakfast. 

"We're not going into the village for anything extravagant today." Taekwoon said, twisting the game Hongbin had caught on a stick over the fire. "We're going to buy Hakyeon proper clothes, and a bedroll."

"What, you can't do business while the rest of us have a little fun?" Hyuk pouted at him. 

"I should remind you that we are still in Orlais. Until we are out of the country, I'm not comfortable with any of you causing trouble." Taekwoon frowned. "Besides, two of you need to stay back and watch camp."

"Not it!" Hongbin called, pulling his hand up swiftly to touch his fingertip to his nose. Wonshik followed his lead immediately, and Hakyeon did the same, even though he wasn't sure what it meant. It left Hyuk and Jaehwan with their hands in their laps and dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

"Come on, boss, I don't want to stay!" Hyuk whined. "Leave Wonshik and Jaehwan here, they're boring anyways."

"Fuck that." Wonshik huffed. "I have to see if there's a blacksmith in town who can sharpen my weapons."

"Oh yeah?" Jaehwan pouted at his boyfriend. "With what money? We've hardly come across any gold lately." Wonshik just shared a knowing look with Hongbin, who replied to Jaehwan with a smirk.

"I'm sure there'll be ways to find some."

\--

When they were finished with their breakfast, the four of them set off for the town with Taekwoon in the lead. Hakyeon wore Hyuk's shirt and a pair of Jaehwan's shoes, even though his shoulders were too narrow, and his feet too small.

When they entered the village, Hakyeon was shocked. He'd been expecting humans, but he hadn't been expecting them in this volume. He would be lying if he said he wasn't uncomfortable. When he had been alive, he had never been around this many humans. They had always been kept out of Halamshiral, much to the comfort of those who had been enslaved by them. He had no fellow elf to cling to this time, so he stuck close to Wonshik.

The village was small, with just one main street that connected to side streets holding smaller shops and residential buildings. The noise of the whole place was almost overwhelming. There were people of all shapes and sizes talking over the hum of the crowd to negotiate prices and advertise the things they were selling. A plump woman smiled at her customers as she exchanged a loaf of bread for a handful of coins. A group of small people, that Hakyeon could only guess were dwarves, waved people over and stood on stools to yell out the names of the jewels at their stand. The steady pang of a hammer hitting metal told Wonshik just where th blacksmith was, and he excused himself to go run his own errands. Hakyeon was so engrossed in browsing that he didn't even notice when Wonshik left. He didn't notice when Taekwoon and Hongbin left him behind either.

He stopped at the plump woman's stand, attracted by the smell of fresh baked goods. Across her counter laid piles of cookies and danishes, baguettes on one side and different kinds of loaf breads on the other. He reached out to take one when the woman turned her attention on him.

"Oh, I'm afraid I don't recognize you, dear!" She said, moving to stand in front of him. Hakyeon smiled at her. The humans he had been traveling weren't bad, and this one seemed just like the elves he used to know.

"That's because I just came here today." Hakyeon replied happily.

"Are you to be a servant for the duke?" She asked. Hakyeon's smile faded as quickly as it had come.

"A servant?" Hakyeon repeated.

"The duke keeps lots of elves as servants." She informed him cheerfully. "Do give him this when you see him." She handed him a loaf of bread, the same friendly smile on her face. Hakyeon held the loaf with both of his hands and nodded, dumbfounded. He stepped back from the table as she waved goodbye. Sudden hands on his shoulders made him jump.

"Maker, there you are." Taekwoon mumbled from behind him, steering him away from the baker. "Don't walk off like that."

"I didn't..." Hakyeon frowned, letting Taekwoon lead him through the crowd. They stopped in front of a clothing shop. Taekwoon looked out into the mass of people and Hakyeon turned over his conversation with the baker lady in his head.

"Taekwoon?" He asked, looking up at him. The man just grunted in reply. He figured that was as good of a signal as any to continue. "If Hyuk said that humans and elves live as equals now, then why did that woman ask me if I'm a servant?"

Taekwoon took a moment to answer. "People are..." he started, then stopped again to put his thoughts in order. "It's odd. Elves are the same as us, but only in writing. It takes a very long time for people's way of thinking to change. It's easy to cross something out on paper. It's harder to change the mindset of an entire generation."

"How long has it been?"

"A very, very long time." Taekwoon replied solemnly.

Hakyeon stood with him and thought it over for a couple more minutes, before he realized he didn't know what they were waiting for.

"Taekwoon?" he asked again. Taekwoon sighed and looked over at him.

"What is it now?" he frowned.

"Why aren't we going in?" Hakyeon asked, pointing to the door of the shop.

"We're waiting for Hongbin." Taekwoon replied, nodding towards the crowd.

Hakyeon turned to squint into the mass of people on the street, searching until he found Hongbin. The man in question was standing in front of a vendor, pretending to browse the things on the table. The man next to him was arguing loudly about the price of the jewels with the dwarf selling them. As Hongbin picked up a bracelet with his left hand, he gently lifted the man's fat pouch of gold off his belt with his right. Hakyeon watched in awe as Hongbin's deft fingers curled around the drawstrings, carefully untying the knot and pulling the bag away from his unsuspecting victim all while inspecting the jewelry. He quickly attached the pouch to his own belt. The dwarf, frustrated with the man's antics by now, and turned his attention to Hongbin.

"For my mother." Hongbin said to him, lifting the bracelet as he spoke. "How much is it?"

"Fifteen gold." The dwarf replied, sounding worn down by the man who he had been arguing with. 

"Ten." Hongbin countered.

"Twelve." The dwarf sighed. Hongbin gave him a dimpled green and handed him the coins before turning and strutting back to Taekwoon and Hakyeon. 

"And that, my friends, is how we earn money around here." He said, tying the bracelet around his wrist. "Ready to go do some business?" He asked Taekwoon, who sighed.

"Just go inside and bat your eyelashes until that woman gives us something decent for cheap."

\--

Quite a bit of eyelash batting later, Hakyeon walked out of the tailor shop with a new outfit. He thought Hongbin did a lot of flirting, and made a lot of promises he couldn't keep, but he guessed it didn't really matter if they weren't ever going to come back. They were joined by Wonshik again before Taekwoon lead them to a shoemaker.

"Do it again." Taekwoon said, pushing Hongbin towards the door. Hongbin peeked into the window and saw and old man sitting at a workbench, surrounded by leather and soles. 

"You want me to seduce a grandpa?" Hongbin asked, looking over at his shoulder at Taekwoon. The older just raised his eyebrows at him and nudged him towards the door again.

Hongbin sighed and took a minute before looking at Hakyeon. "Take your shoes off. Follow me in, but don't say anything." 

Hakyeon nodded quickly, pulling Jaehwan's boots off his feet. When Hongbin entered the shop, Hakyeon followed him silently. He saw Hongbin long around, and noticed his smile when he spotted what he was looking for. Hakyeon followed his gaze and saw a plaque that read, _'Honorable discharge, Orlesian War'_

"Excuse me, sir?" Hongbin piped up. The old man looked up at him and raised his eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. 

"What can I do for you, son?"

"I see you fought in the Orlesian War." Hongbin said, pointing up at the plaque on the wall. "My father fought and died in that war. You must have been a strong soldier." 

"Oh I was." The man smiled and stood. Hongbin was the picture of a respectful young man, which was quite a stretch. "And did you fight?" The man asked.

"Oh, I did, sir, but I only fought for a year. I had to come back and finish my studies." Hongbin nodded.

"Oh which side?" The man asked. It was then that Hakyeon realized that Hongbin's accent was different than the old man's. He watched the sudden realization and panic surface on Hongbin's face before he smothered it with a sigh and the shake of his head. Acting like he didn't hear the question, he continued.

"Anyways, the life of a student is a poor one. My mother gifted me this servant, but he can't do anything if his feet are bloody. Do you have anything on sale today?" He asked, putting a hand on the small of Hakyeon's back and bringing him forward.

The man looked down at Hakyeon's feet, then around to the pairs of shoes on the shelves, seemingly forgetting about the accent dilemma. "What kind of shoe were you looking for?"

"Work boots." Hongbin replied. "Something durable and sturdy." 

The man clicked his tongue in thought, then walked over to the shelf and pulled a pair. "Have him try these on." He said, handing the shoes to Hongbin, who in turn gave them to Hakyeon. The elf began to put them on immediately. Surprisingly, they fit nicely. He almost gave Hongbin a thumbs up, before he remembered he was supposed to be acting like a servant. Hongbin knelt down by his feet and looked at the price tag.

"Oh, sir." He began, sounding pained. "Wouldn't it be a shame to buy a pair of shoes for a servant that cost more than you paid for the servant itself?"

The man though for a moment before agreeing. "You're right. I'll bring it down for you." He said. Hongbin thanked him and handed over the money.

"May your father rest in peace." The man smiled at him.

"Thank you." Hongbin smiled back at the man, then turned and steered Hakyeon out of the shop again. Once they were safely outside, with the door closed behind them, Hakyeon spoke.

"You told that man your father died in the Orlesian War." 

"I sure did." Hongbin replied, lamenting over his almost empty pouch of money.

"But your family was killed by darkspawn."

"That they were." Hongbin nodded, tucking the pouch under his belt again.

"Isn't that lying?" Hakyeon asked. Hongbin raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's stretching the truth." He answered. "And it doesn't matter, does it? You got a new pair of shoes, and some nice clothes."

"And while you were gone, I picked up a bedroll." Wonshik chipped in.

"And Wonshik picked you up a bedroll." Hongbin added. "We deserve a thank you."

"Ah..." Hakyeon frowned a little, rubbing the back of his neck. He was trying to reprimand them for being dishonest, but he supposed they had a point. "Thank you...?"

Hongbin looked like he was about to reply when their leader stiffened next to him.

"Turn around." Taekwoon said lowly, turning to head back into the busy street. "We need to leave right now."

Hakyeon was unsettled by the tone of his voice and the way Wonshik and Hongbin followed his lead without question. Hakyeon turned and began to follow them again when a deep voice from behind them called out. 

"Jung Taekwoon!"

Taekwoon stopped walking. Hakyeon bumped right into his back, his forehead bouncing off the tense muscles wound up in his shoulder. Hakyeon turned and looked behind him, spotting a tall, broad man, wearing flashy clothing and a golden mask over the top part of his face. Although Hakyeon could barely see his eyes, his grin was clear, and as was his loose posture compared to Taekwoon's stiff one. Taekwoon turned slowly to face him.

"Brother." He greeted through gritted teeth.

"What brings you back to Orlais?" The older man asked. He sounded smug. "And who are these people?"

"Nothing." Taekwoon replied. "And nobody."

"Mother and Father were curious as to why you left. Like a coward, too, in the middle of the night. No warning, no explanation, not even a letter. What are you putting our dear parents through?" 

"I'm leaving." Taekwoon turned again and began to walk towards the busy street. His brother surged forward and grabbed his shoulder, turning him around again. 

"Our parents want to know why you left." He said, suddenly serious. Hakyeon shrank back, but Hongbin and Wonshik surged forward, ready to fight for their friend.

"Sukcheol." Taekwoon glared at his brother through his shining mask as he pushed his hand off his shoulder. "I'm leaving." 

With that, he grabbed Hakyeon's wrist, turned away again, and pushed into the crowd. Hakyeon stumbled after him, watching Taekwoon's brother over his shoulder until the people closed the gap between them and he couldn't see him anymore. 

\--

"We're leaving early tomorrow." Taekwoon announced, busily packing things up. Hyuk, who was checking out the colorful bracelet Hongbin had bought, looked up with a pout.

"What? Why? I wanted to go into town tomorrow!"

"I don't care." Taekwoon replied.

"We saw Sukcheol today." Hongbin explained shortly.

"Sukcheol?" Jaehwan repeated, looking up at Hongbin. "You're kidding, right?" 

"I wish." Wonshik sighed." 

"What does that mean for us?" Hakyeon asked. He noticed that everyone was distressed about it, and he knew about Taekwoon's past, but he didn't know what exactly Sukcheol would do.

"It means we'll be in danger until we get out of the country." Wonshik replied.

"How long will that take?" Hakyeon asked.

"A week, if we're lucky. Two if we're not." Hongbin groaned. "This is going to suck." 

If Hakyeon was honest, it did suck. They left early the next morning, and walked all day. They stopped only to hunt, eat, and sleep. Even though everyone was exhausted, no on complained, so Hakyeon didn't either.

Hakyeon didn't remember a lot from his childhood, due to all the time wasted between alive and dead after he finished that ritual with his father. However, he did remember that usually being in the woods wasn't this unsettling. Wonshik was having nightmares when he slept, and even though he wouldn't say what they were about, Hakyeon noticed him sticking closer to Jaehwan. The sounds of him dreaming kept Hakyeon awake at night, staring into the darkness in the trees. Branches rustled, but there was no animal there to move them. As they walked, he sensed presence where he could see nobody. He began to gather healing herbs as they came across them, keeping them in the empty money pouch that Hongbin had picked up in the village. Better safe than sorry, he figured. If he needed to help anybody out of a near death situation in these unsettling woods, it was better that he was prepared. 

On the fifth night of travel, Wonshik went to bed first. He had been more tired than the rest of them lately. They had ditched their tents, opting to sleep out around a dying fire every night instead of carrying sacks of cloth around every day. There was no place to set up tents in that thick of a wood anyways. Slowly, they all began to retire, until Hyuk and Hakyeon were the only ones left awake. 

"Sleep." Hyuk urged. "I can tell that you're tired. I'll keep watch."

Hakyeon nodded drowsily and curled up in his bedroll. Half asleep, he noticed the bracelet Hongbin bought in the village glinting prettily on Hyuk's wrist in the light of the campfire. He would have said something, if he could will his mouth to open. His eyes drifted closed and he slowly slipped into unconsciousness. 

\--

The bang of steel on steel woke him up. There was yelling, but his half asleep mind didn't quite register it. He picked up his head and opened his eyes to see Hyuk, fighting with a man wearing all black. He turned quickly to wake Taekwoon up, but found that all the beds were empty. The people who had been in them were up already, rushing to join the fight. He scrambled to his feet, picking up Wonshik's hunting knife as more men in black rushed out of the trees and towards their campfire. To his right, Wonshik pushed Jaehwan behind him and raised his sword to two men with arrows trained on him. To his left, Hyuk was struggling with another man with a sword, while Hongbin rushed to dock an arrow and pull back his bowstring. One of their invaders threw a knife from across camp, and Hakyeon watched helplessly as it collided with Hongbin's arm and sunk into his flesh. He dropped his bow, yelling out in pain. Hakyeon took a step to help him, but Taekwoon pulled him back by the collar of his shirt, out of the way of an arrow flying towards him. Hyuk glanced over at Hongbin at the sound of his cry, dropping his guard momentarily and giving his enemy a chance to disarm him. The fighting stopped abruptly, Hongbin clutching his bleeding bicep next to Hyuk, who had the tip of a sword against his neck. His own weapon laid on the ground out of reach. Wonshik held his sword up to two archers cornering him and Jaehwan. A third archer stood with an arrow at the ready, pointed at Hakyeon and Taekwoon. They were trapped. Hakyeon slowly lifted his hands, dropping Wonshik's knife.

"What's going on?" Taekwoon demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing, brother." 

Sukcheol stepped into the dim light of the campfire, wearing all black like his companions, and without a mask this time. He looked remarkably similar to Taekwoon, his eyes catlike and his shoulders broad. The only thing that was out of place was the smug grin on his lips. 

"What are you doing here?" Taekwoon scowled at him. 

"You see, I asked Mom and Dad. I said, 'Should I go looking for little Woonie?' They told me they didn't care where you went. They didn't care what you did. But then people started talking. And you know what it's like for us, when people start talking." Sukcheol stalked forward, flipping a dagger between his fingers and smirking at his younger brother. "There was a rumor that you had gone to Ferelden, of all places, and started a gang of treasure hunters. Thieves, they said. I almost didn't believe it. Yet, here we are." 

"What do you want?" Taekwoon asked through gritted teeth. His fists were clenched at his sides, his jaw set. 

"Well, after these rumors got out, we started wondering if they were true. A Vint, a mage, a Ferelden farmer, and a fucking elf?" Sukcheol let out a breath through his teeth, rolling his shoulders back and laughing before pointing the dagger at Taekwoon. "Well, I guess that's two now. You understand what happens now, right?"

"We're leaving the country. We're on our way to Ferelden." Taekwoon stepped forward. 

"I have orders to kill you, and all of your buddies. We can make it so you never existed." Sukcheol smirked, then put a hand on his chest dramatically. "My poor little brother was kidnapped by a band of thieves. He was killed by them, so I cut every one of their heads off. How does that sound? The evidence will be here when we're done."

Hakyeon looked around at the attackers poised to kill, at Hongbin slowly working the knife out of his arm, at Wonshik and Jaehwan ready to fight. Wonshik met Hakyeon's gaze as Sukcheol continued to talk. He was moving his mouth in the darkness, and after a moment of trying not to look like he was squinting, Hakyeon realized he was mouthing a countdown.

_Three._

"I think it sounds pretty fucking tragic. I mean, who can't fight back against an elf?"

_Two._

"They're so bony and thin. Tevinter has it right. What else are they good for other than to serve the people who matter?"

_One._

Wonshik surged forward and stabbed his sword into the gut of one of the archers. Jaehwan ducked under the arrow released from the second one, and sent a ball of fire in the direction of the archer aiming at Taekwoon. Hyuk twisted away from the man with the sword and Hongbin tagged in, getting close and shoving the dagger used against him into the man's throat. The remaining archer let an arrow loose in Jaehwan and Wonshik's direction and began to dock another, until Jaehwan knocked him off his feet. He picked up Wonshik's dropped sword and pressed the blade against the archer's neck. Where before Taekwoon had been scowling, his small mouth formed a smile. 

"Maybe I should send a letter home, and tell them I killed you instead." He threatened. Sukcheol looked around at his dead or dying men and took a step back. 

"I don't... I don't think that will be necessary." He said carefully.

"Right." Taekwoon nodded. "You can tell them yourself."

Hakyeon watched Sukcheol run back into the darkness. Jaehwan released the archer, and he ran too. They all released a sigh of relief, except for Hongbin, who sucked in a quick breath. 

"Fucking hell, Wonshik." He said, rushing over to where Wonshik laid, an arrow buried in his chest. When Jaehwan saw the damage, he dropped the sword and immediately started panicking. 

"Wonshik!" He fell to his knees beside his boyfriend, who let out a weak chuckle.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Wonshik said quietly, groaning when Jaehwan propped him up on his lap.

"What are you talking about, Wonshik, there's a fucking arrow in you." Jaehwan replied, his eyes starting to well up with tears. 

"It doesn't hurt that much..." Wonshik tried, his head lolling against Jaehwan's shoulder. 

"Stop acting tough, you damn asshole." Hongbin scolded, but he was choking up too. Hyuk stood by in shock, his hands over his mouth. 

"If you die, Wonshik, I'm going to..." Jaehwan lost his words, and opted instead for hugging him close. "Don't die..."

"I'm not gonna die." Wonshik coughed, struggling to breathe now. Hakyeon felt for the herbs at his belt, then knelt down beside Hongbin and pushed him out of the way.

"Move." He said quickly, already pulling the pouch off his belt. 

"What are you doing?" Hongbin asked, moving out of Hakyeon's way and watching him pull Wonshik out of Jaehwan's arms. 

"I'm going to fix it." Hakyeon replied, taking Wonshik gently from Jaehwan and laying him down on the ground.

"Just let me hold him..." Jaehwan sniffled, reaching out for Wonshik again.

"Not if you want this to work." Hakyeon replied, swatting Jaehwan's shaking hands away. He picked up the knife from earlier and cut Wonshik's shirt open, then planted a hand on his chest and wrapped the other around the arrow. "This is going to hurt a little bit." 

"By all means-" Wonshik began, but when Hakyeon tugged, he arched his back and let out a pained cry. Jaehwan slapped his hand over his mouth and choked back a sob. When the arrow was out, Hakyeon tossed it aside, noting that Wonshik wasn't responding to him anymore. _Quickly, quickly, work quickly_ , he reminded himself. He emptied his herb pouch onto the ground and pressed the cloth to the wound. As he applied pressure, he tore up herbs with his teeth and his other hand. He pulled the blood-soaked pouch away, sprinkling the herbs around the deep gash in Wonshik's chest. It wasn't exact for the ritual he was thinking of, but it would do. He didn't have time to waste on measurements. He snatched up the dagger he had used to cut Wonshik's shirt, and used it to chop a small lock of his own hair off. He set it on Wonshik's chest, away from the wound, then sliced a small cut in his own arm and pressed his thumb into it. He placed bloody thumbprints around Wonshik's injury with the herbs and began to chant under his breath. The rest of them watched in awe. He pressed the bloody pouch back onto the wound and continued, his eyes closed. There was a green glow from the circle he made on Wonshik's chest, and a considerable tug on Hakyeon's energy until it was almost all gone. When he pulled the shirt away, the bleeding had stopped and the cut was closed.

"What was that?" Hyuk asked, his wide eyes on Hakyeon.

"Ritual." Hakyeon slurred, standing up and stumbling backwards into Taekwoon's chest. "Elven."

"He'll live?" Jaehwan asked, scooting back towards Wonshik cautiously. His chest was rising and falling steadily, like it should.

Hakyeon nodded. "Yeah."

"What about my arm?" Hongbin asked. 

Hakyeon narrowed his eyes at Hongbin, taking a moment to assess his wound through the fog in his brain. "Stitches." 

Taekwoon frowned at Hakyeon, his hands on the elf's arms to steady him. "Do you need anything?" he asked.

"M'fine." Hakyeon mumbled, twisting away from Taekwoon clumsily and staggering towards the bedrolls. 

"Are you sure?" Taekwoon asked again, watching him go.

"Positive." Hakyeon replied, then fell onto the nearest bedroll and curled up. The last thing that he registered before falling asleep was that the bedding might not be his own. Oh well. Beggars can't be choosers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> getting this up took me longer than it should so i apologize D: I've had it typed out for a week and thought out for longer but work and other real life stuff got in the way. but here it is! the next chapter should be p cool maybe a little shorter than this one hopefully. this one was so long ;A; anyways thanks for reading and stuff and i'll see you next time!


	4. Wicked Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you give a rich noble with lots to lose a chance to kill someone with someone else's sword, they'll take it almost every time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my friend who knows nothing about vixx or dragon age agreed to start betaing this fic and i could not be happier i think this chapter is going to be of a higher quality than the last ones so!!!! Also, they just keep getting longer and longer >.> she told me to add a scene so i added like 1k words to an existing 4k words and... anyways i hope you guys like this! i'm going to the beach tomorrow so i tried my best to get it up by today and look at me, right on time B)

"These are so sloppy," Hakyeon chided. He was inspecting the stitches in Hongbin's arm, frowning at the way they were angled this way and that, and eventually cut off awkwardly at the end. 

Taekwoon scowled, folding his arms over his chest and looking up from his messy stitches to glare at Hakyeon. "What do you mean they're sloppy?"

"I mean that they're uneven and angled oddly," Hakyeon replied, looking up at their pouty leader. "But I won't make you redo them. It would be more trouble than it's worth." 

"And thank the fucking Maker for that," Hongbin mumbled, pulling his arm away from Hakyeon's grip. He yanked his sleeve back down over his wound protectively.

Hakyeon guessed he couldn't really blame Taekwoon for his amateur stitches. The night before, he had passed out on what happened to be Taekwoon's bedroll. He didn't wake up until after the sun came up, and it would have been foolish of them to wait for him to come to again before fixing Hongbin up. At least they had patched up his wound. Hakyeon could give Taekwoon that much. In contrast to Hakyeon, Wonshik hadn't stirred until midday, and Jaehwan was currently fussing over him.

"Are you sure you don't need anything? Not even water?" He asked, petting Wonshik's hair. Wonshik was sitting up, drinking out of a half full canteen already. He raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend and lifted his drink.

"Jaehwan, you've already gotten me water," he stated.

"Well, I don't know, what if you need more? Maybe drinking lots and lots of water will help you get better faster," Jaehwan replied, waving his hands around as he attempted to explain his worries. 

"I'm already better," Wonshik hummed, a fond smile curling over his lips as he leaned over and kissed Jaehwan on the cheek. "Drinking lots and lots of water is just going to make me have to piss."

Jaehwan's tense shoulders visibly relaxed as he slouched forward and hung his head, suddenly sheepish. He paused, but when he spoke again, his voice was small.

"Wonshik, you could have died..." Jaehwan said softly, bumping his head against Wonshik's shoulder. Hakyeon suddenly felt as if he was intruding, so he tore his eyes away to where Hongbin sat with Hyuk.

"Will it hurt if I poke it?" Hyuk asked, leaning towards Hongbin and pointing a finger at the wound in Hongbin's arm.

"I fucking swear on the Maker, Hyuk, if you do that, I will kill you." Hongbin deadpanned in reply.

Hakyeon felt his own fond smile grace his lips, a pleasant warmth washing over him. The feeling only grew stronger when he turned to Taekwoon to see him still disgruntled over Hakyeon's critique of his patch-up job on Hongbin. He was leaning over, trying to stealthily look at the stitches in Hongbin's arm while the younger held it protectively against his chest and glared at him. Hakyeon laughed, a hand over his mouth. Taekwoon looked up at the sound, realized he was caught, and promptly decided to let it go.

"Hey boss!" Wonshik called, effectively grabbing Taekwoon's attention. "I know you guys are worried about me and stuff, but I'm really fine. We can get going whenever you want to. I know after last night you probably really want to make yourself scarce."

Taekwoon took a moment to assess the younger, his eyes grazing over the scar in his chest from the night before, then nodded reluctantly.

"If you're sure," Taekwoon replied softly. When he stood, everyone began to help with breaking down the camp. It didn't take them long to do, since they didn't have much, so soon enough they were on their way again.

It took them four more days of travel, doubling as four days of Jaehwan refusing to accept that Wonshik was really okay, for them to reach the first town over the Ferelden border. 

"Can we stay for more than a day this time?" Hyuk frowned, looking accusingly at Taekwoon.

"Depends on how much hell you raise," Taekwoon replied, not bothering to look at Hyuk as he examined the village from afar. 

"There's probably a perfectly good inn in town. Do we have to sleep outside again?" Hongbin asked.

"We don't have any money to pay for an inn," Jaehwan sighed.

"Why don't we try to pick up a job then?" Hyuk suggested.

There was a moment of silence while they all looked to their leader for a decision. When he realized they were all waiting for him to say something, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's just see what happens."

\--

They ended up sipping on cider, after Hongbin had sweet talked the giggly young barmaid into serving them for free. Hyuk leaned back in his chair, his arm slung across Hongbin's shoulder in an attempt to look casual while still marking his territory. By now, Jaehwan was done worrying over Wonshik, much to everyone's relief, and was more interested in the sweet cider and now they were going to get more. 

"So, how do you go about getting a job when you're kind of... criminals?" Hakyeon asked quietly, looking around at the gang sitting around the wooden table.

"You just have to know where to look," Wonshik replied. "Asking outright will get you in trouble. But, if you give a rich noble with lots to lose a chance to kill someone with someone else's sword, they'll take it almost every time."

It took Hakyeon a second to understand what Wonshik was trying to say, but when it clicked, his eyes widened in disbelief. "You want to kill someone?"

"We also steal things from time to time," Taekwoon shrugged next to him. "It depends on the job."

"How do you do it? Pick up a job?" Hakyeon wondered again, much more wary of the answer this time.

"I can show you," Hyuk grinned as he stood up.

"That guy in the corner?" Jaehwan prompted, raising his eyebrow, looking at the elf as if he was thinking the same thing. Hyuk nodded as he straightened out his shirt and brushed at his pants.

"That's right. Lots of gold on his fingers for a commoner's bar, I'd say. He's gotta be here for something," Hyuk explained. "I'll be right back."

Hakyeon watched as Hyuk strolled across the room, through the mingling people, and to the man with the gold dangling off his wrists and wrapped intricately around his fingers. He watched them chat, shaking his head in amazement as the man slid the elf a piece of parchment before leaning in close as if to share a secret. The entire confrontation took the two about ten minutes, before Hyuk folded the paper and slipped it into his boot, then walked back to their table and sat down.

"Did you get a bite?" Hongbin asked, raising an eyebrow at Hyuk.

"Yep," Hyuk hummed, leaning back again as he reassumed the position with one arm across the back of Hongbin's chair and the opposite hand holding his drink. He took a sip before he spoke again. "I'll tell you guys about it later. We should get out of here soon, though." 

"Then let's finish up," Taekwoon decided.

The rest of the crew downed their drinks, so Hakyeon downed his too. They stood up as one and exited the pub, spilling out onto the street together with Hyuk leading the way out of town again. When they were finally safe and out of earshot of those in the village, Hyuk pulled the parchment out of his boot. They circled up around the elf, who began to explain the mission they had been given.

"Alright, so here's the deal," Hyuk began. "In a nutshell, this guy wants his crest back. He sold it to the marquis in this town for the money it took him to get out of debt, but now he has no cash left. He won't part with his existing jewel either, the rich bastard. So, he wants us to go to the marquis' place, and steal it back for him. He told me to talk it over with all of you, and come back to the pub in an hour to discuss payment."

"What's on the paper?" Hakyeon asked, just relieved they weren't going to kill anybody.

Hyuk lifted up the parchment and showed it to the rest of them, revealing a crude drawing of a pendant on a necklace. It had what looked like a deformed bird with a line on it's beak on it. Maybe it was holding something? There were scribbles at the bottom resembling words, but Hakyeon couldn't tell what they said.

"Well that's helpful," Hongbin deadpanned.

Jaehwan chuckled. "It can't be that bad. A circular pendant, it has a bird on it, and some writing on the bottom." 

"Is that a bird?" Wonshik asked, squinting and leaning closer. "It looks like a rock, with another pontier rock stuck to the side. Or maybe it's just a really oddly shaped bush."

Jaehwan just laughed again. "Seriously, how hard can it be? Something as valuable as a family crest, it would probably be kept pretty close to its new owner. Or in a case or something... Like a trophy room?"

"Something like that, yeah..." Taekwoon agreed, watching Wonshik as the latter continued to examine the drawing with narrowed eyes. 

"How would you pull something like that off? You can't just sneak into a castle," Hakyeon frowned. "And a marquis? I don't know a lot about human politics and ranks, but that sounds kind of important. We could get in really big trouble."

"Hakyeon, we live and breathe trouble," Hyuk smirked in reply.

"Well, that's no reason to-" Hakyeon tried again, but Hongbin was already talking over him.

"This is Ferelden, which means that castle has got to be old as hell. When the Blight hit, lots of places got beat up thanks to darkspawn. If there's opening from darkspawn damage, there should be a way to get in through the sewers."

"The sewers?" Hakyeon repeated to himself. He was relieved when he saw Taekwoon crinkle his nose in disgust as well.

"Yeah, we can get in through the sewers. Then we can split up. Three of us go find a trophy room, or a library, and the three of us go find the marquis' bedroom," Hongbin continued.

"Before we make plans..." Taekwoon cut in, the sound of his soft voice somehow silencing everyone. "Let's just see how much he's going to pay us."

Hakyeon sincerely hoped it wasn't going to be enough to make this operation worthwhile.

\--

An hour later, Taekwoon stepped out of the pub for the second time that day, followed by Hyuk. He nodded at all of them as Hyuk closed the door behind him. 

"We're doing it," Taekwoon announced. "He gave us five hundred gold in advance."

"Five _hundred_?" Jaehwan repeated in disbelief.

"Holy shit," Wonshik breathed.

"That's only half of it. He'll give us the rest after we give him the crest," Taekwoon continued. "Tonight, Hongbin, take Wonshik and go scout out the castle. We need to know what we're dealing with. Look at the outside walls and try to figure out how to get in. Hyuk is going to go buy some lock picks and supplies with our advance."

As Hyuk started to walk away, Taekwoon stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. When Hyuk looked back at him, Taekwoon locked eyes with him.

" _Lots_ of lock picks."

"Heard that, boss," Hyuk nodded, and then was on his way.

"What are we doing, then?" Jaehwan asked.

Taekwoon smiled and held up a pouch of money. "We book a room, and we plan."

\--

When they found the inn, there were, quite conveniently, three vacant rooms. Taekwoon looked displeased, but before he could speak, Hongbin cut in.

"We'll take them all."

"But there aren't enough," Taekwoon objected quietly.

"Sure there are," Hongbin grinned. Next to him, Jaehwan hid his chuckle behind his hand. "One for Hyuk and I, one for Wonshik and Jaehwan, and one for Hakyeon and yourself."

Taekwoon opened his mouth to reply, but snapped it shut again when Hongbin winked at him. He turned back to the woman at the counter.

"We'll take them all," He repeated. Jaehwan gave her the money, and Wonshik took their keys before he divvied them out between the pairs. When they went their separate ways to find their rooms, Hongbin gave Taekwoon one last smug look before turning and going his way. Silently, Hakyeon followed Taekwoon to their room. Once Taekwoon managed to open the door, Hakyeon shuffled inside with him.

The room was simple, containing one bed, a bedside table, a dresser, and a mirror. The two of them stood at the entrance, staring at the single bed until Taekwoon spoke.

"I can sleep on the floor."

Hakyeon looked at him, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"I could sleep on the floor." 

"No." 

"Or we can both sleep in the b-"

" _No._ " 

Hakyeon watched him for a moment, then nodded and shuffled around Taekwoon to sit down on the bed and take off his boots. He lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. In his peripheral vision, the tall figure of Taekwoon bent and sat on the floor. In their silence, Hakyeon let his mind wander. 

He wondered about Sukcheol, and his relationship with Taekwoon. What kind of man would try o kill his younger brother? Maybe Taekwoon's entire family was at fault. No family should wish death on each other like that. Then again, he had killed his father, hadn't he? Sudden guilt twisted in his stomach and nodded in his throat.

"Taekwoon?" Hakyeon turned his head to look at the man, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the bed. Taekwoon raised an eyebrow at him in question.

"Why did Sukcheol try to kill you?" He continued. After the question was already out in the open, He thought maybe it was an insensitive one. He quickly lifted himself up on his elbows, his guilt transforming into panic as he rushed to apologize. However, Taekwoon didn't look phased.

"Do you know what the Great Game is?" Taekwoon asked, meeting Hakyeon's eyes calmly.

"Is it... the joust? Or sparring? I've heard people talking about games that humans play, but I don't know about a lot of them..." Hakyeon frowned, surprised by Taekwoon's demeanor.

"No it's... it's not actually a game," Taekwoon replied, looking amused now. "In Orlais, everyone must put up a front of sorts. We wear masks that sport our houses but hide our faces, and we use words to climb the ladder to the top of the social food chain. Where people in Ferelden use their swords, people in Orlais use their tongues. When someone kills your reputation, you die with it. In Orlais, you're only as good as what people say about you." 

Hakyeon recalled the story Taekwoon had told him the night that they brought him from the temple where he used to live. "Yes, yous aid you didn't like it, so you left home."

"That's right," Taekwoon nodded. "My father is a very important man in Orlais. Although I am the youngest son, my departure probably sparked a lot of rumors about my family and myself. It's easier for them, if they kill me and spin a story. It would make their problem child go away, and the rumors disappear." 

"You don't seem that upset," Hakyeon noted, cocking his head as he watched Taekwoon. "Aren't you angry that they want to kill you for leaving? Or maybe even, sad? Shouldn't a family bond be stronger than some rumors?"

"Not in Orlais, it's not," Taekwoon shrugged. "I'm not upset, really, but I'm not happy about it either. If I steer clear of the country for a while, I'm sure they'll lose track of me."

Hakyeon was quiet for a moment, thinking about himself compared to Sukcheol. Taekwoon's brother needed to kill Taekwoon for personal gain, but hadn't Hakyeon done the same thing? Hakyeon wondered if Sukcheol would have felt the same regret that Hakyeon felt. He didn't even remember his father, or his friends from the temple. He only remembered driving the curved dagger into the man's chest and watching the hurt an confusion pass over his face through the tears in his eyes. The next thing was a flash of green and the feeling of cold water against his skin in a large, dark room with four tall humans and one taller elf staring at him in shock.

The entire situation was overwhelming. Why should he be alive when everyone he used to know was dead? How was he any different than Taekwoon's brother? He had killed his father, stopped the monster, but only after everyone else had been killed. He hadn't done anything until his father turned on him, the last victim.

He laid back and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes to stop the tears there. He wished things were how they used to be. He wanted to go home. 

"Hakyeon, I'm really okay... There's no need to get upset about it," Taekwoon spoke next to him, his soft voice sounding concerned. Hakyeon almost replied that yes, he should be upset, until he remembered that Taekwoon was still thinking about his own family.

"No, it's not that," Hakyeon sniffled, wiping his eyes quickly and swallowing his tears.

"What's wrong then?" Taekwoon frowned.

"It's just... do you think I'm any better than Sukcheol? I killed my father, but just because I regret it doesn't make it any better." Hakyeon looked over at Taekwoon to see his brows furrowed in confusion.

"I don't think you're anything like Sukcheol," Taekwoon answered. "Sukcheol is selfish. You've been anything but that since I met you."

"But I killed him, Taekwoon," Hakyeon tried, his voice quieter now. He was almost pleading with Taekwoon, begging him to see what he really was.

"He was going to kill you," Taekwoon replied simply. "It's self-defense. Killing someone because people are saying bad things about you and killing someone because they're coming at you with a dagger are two very different things. The second one is justified." 

Hakyeon fell silent, turning that statement over his head. Maybe he was justified. Maybe everything he had done was justified. It didn't matter now; it was years ago. Taekwoon didn't think he was a monster, like his father, like Sukcheol. Maybe he was right. Hyuk interrupted his thoughts when he poked his head into the room with a grin.

"I just got back with a bunch of shit, boss. Lock picks, rope, and some grappling hooks and stuff, I think we're set," Hyuk announced.

"Let me see it all," Taekwoon replied, getting to his feet and brushing the dust off his pants. Hyuk's smile faltered just a bit.

"Well, you can look at it, but it's in my room. You know, the one I'm sharing with Hongbin. We'd appreciate if you made it quick, because this is the first time we've had an actual bed in ages, and we're planning on-"

"I get it," Taekwoon cut him off, clicking his tongue and hitting him upside the head. It wasn't enough to hurt, just enough to get him to stop talking.

"I'm glad we have an understanding," Hyuk chuckled, sounding pleased as he exited the room with Taekwoon.

Hakyeon buried himself under the covers and curled up, staring at the door that Taekwoon closed behind his back. He wasn't a monster because Taekwoon said so. Maybe that was what he needed to hear.

A while after Taekwoon had left, Hongbin and Wonshik stopped by to let him know they were going out to scout out around the castle. Hakyeon sleepily told them he was still with Hyuk, checking the quality of their equipment, so they thanked him and left to find their leader. Taekwoon had set a meeting time for the noon the next day to discuss their findings, so until then, Hakyeon figured all he could do was get some rest. 

So he did.

\--

"Hyuk, when you were out yesterday, you bought rope, right?" Hongbin asked, sitting on the bed in Taekwoon and Hakyeon's shared room the next afternoon. "Because we're going to need it."

"If you walk around the castle a little bit, you'll notice that there are some cracks and ruts in the wall around it. It makes it very easy to climb. There's a section of castle wall that should be relatively easy to get up and over," Wonshik explained.

"Should be?" Taekwoon repeated, looking unimpressed. 

"Well, it is," Hongbin spoke this time. "We got all the way up onto the wall, but we couldn't get into the castle itself because the doors were locked. While we were struggling with the locks, some rounds men, who were talking about a big party going on tonight, almost caught us. Apparently, the marquis' son is getting married, and they're having a huge celebration."

"So you think we should go tonight?" Jaehwan asked, receiving a shrug from Hongbin.

"I don't think there will be any other time as good as this one. As long as we stay away from all the commotion, we should be set. Hyuk, you can tell your rich bastard that he can expect his crest back by noon tomorrow."

The rest of the day was spent planning. It was going to be dangerous, but for one thousand gold, it was worth it. That night, they snuck around the castle in the dark and scaled the wall one by one. Taekwoon easily picked the lock on the door leading from the ramparts into the castle. From there, they split into two teams. Jaehwan, Wonshik, and Taekwoon went to find a trophy room, and Hongbin, Hyuk, and Hakyeon set off to locate the master bedroom.

"Do you know anything about this town or the marquis here?" Hyuk asked Hongbin in a hushed whisper as they snuck down the hallway. 

"Not a clue. Why?" Hongbin replied just as quietly.

"I was just wondering," Hyuk turned his head to smirk at Hongbin, "if we might walk in on something, or if we'll have the bedroom to ourselves."

Hakyeon cleared his throat, to remind them that he was still there. Hongbin glanced back at him, before punching Hyuk in the arm. "Shut the hell up," he snickered.

Finding the master bedroom wasn't as hard as they had originally thought. As Hongbin knelt to pick the lock, Hyuk admired him from the back, and Hakyeon nervously kept watch. 

"Do you think we'll get caught?" Hakyeon asked. The lock clicked and the door swung open before Hongbin got to his feet and brushed the dust off his knees. 

"If we do, it'll make it more fun, right?" He gave Hakyeon a sideways grin before slipping into the room with Hyuk. Hakyeon gave the hallway one last anxious glance before following them inside and closing the door quietly behind him. As soon as he did, however, Hongbin stubbing his toe on the bed and loudly falling to the floor blew whatever cover he would have created for them. 

"Fucking _hell_ , it's dark in here!" The man cursed. Hyuk slapped his hand over his mouth to suppress his laughter as he opened the curtains and let the moonlight flood over the figure of Hongbin on the floor, holding his foot and rocking back and forth like a child.

"Oh, get up," Hyuk teased, nudging him with his foot as he walked by. "Look for this dumb crest so we can get out of here." 

"What happens when we get out of here?" Hongbin asked, sitting up and watching Hyuk's ass as he bent over to look through the drawers in the bedside table.

"If I'm not too tired, something exciting, hopefully," Hyuk replied without looking back. Hakyeon watched a dirty smirk spread over Hongbin's mouth, his tongue flicking out over his lower lip.

"Also, if we leave soon," Hakyeon added, just to say something and remind them that he was still present. "We might not get caught. I think not getting caught is, um, very exciting."

"Well it's hard to be quick when only one third of the group is searching," Hyuk replied, giving the two of them an expectant look over his shoulder. Hakyeon stiffened as the statement clicked in his brain, then swiftly got to work.

"Right," he mumbled, then turned and began to look through the wardrobe by the door. He opened the polished wooden doors and in the dim light saw a compartment full of expensive looking clothing. He took a moment to stare in awe before beginning to dig through t. He checked the pockets of each jacket, shirt, and pair of pants, felt the back of the wardrobe behind the clothing, as well as the bottom. He pulled out the drawers underneath the closet compartment and thoroughly searched through that as well. Each new article of clothing that was empty made him more and more nervous.

"What if he's at the party right now, and he has it on him?" Hakyeon wondered, his voice hushed.

"I don't think he would," Hongbin replied vaguely.

"A man can't wear another man's crest to his own party. He'll boldly show off his own family crest instead. Anything less would be seen as treasonous." Hyuk explained. He had moved on from the bedside stand to the bed, his upper half wedged between the bed and the floor, checking the frame. "Plus, if it's really a party for his sons marriage, he'll want to boast his family crest anyways."

"Just keep looking," Hongbin said to Hakyeon. "It's got to be here somewhere. If it's not, then Taekwoon probably has it." 

Hakyeon nodded. He took a deep breath and continued to search. Once all the clothes came up empty, he emptied the first drawer for any ruts suggesting the wood in place for a false bottom. When he found nothing, he glided his hand along the top, until the wood under his fingertips turned to leather. He frowned in confusion and felt over it again, his fingertips sensing the lump in the tough fabric as he tried to find an opening. 

"Hyuk? Hongbin?" Hakyeon called quietly, his entire forearm stuck in the drawer as he tried to blindly work the pouch open with his fingers. "I think I found something."

The two of them rushed over, Hyuk nudging Hakyeon out of the way to stick his own arm into the drawer and feel what Hakyeon was talking about. 

"It's a pocket, on the underside of the wardrobe above the drawer," Hyuk explained quietly, locking eyes with Hongbin. "I think this is it."

"Can you get it out?" Hongbin prompted.

"Yeah, give me just... a second..." Hyuk yanked suddenly and pulled free a large golden pendant on a strip of braided ribbon. He held up the pendant in the moonlight. On it was a carving of a crow with a branch in it's mouth, a surname across the bottom. 

"We got it," Hakyeon grinned. 

"Put all those clothes back and let's get out of here," Hyuk pocketed the crest quickly as he stood. "We need to make it look like we were never here."

Hakyeon put the clothes back where they come from, tucked the drawers back in neatly, and straighened up the clothes in the closet section of the wardrobe. When he was finished, he shut the doors carefully and looked back at Hyuk and Hongbin, who were finishing up as well.

"Do we go get Taekwoon and the others?" Hakyeon asked.

"I'll go grab them," Hongbin replied. "You two get out." 

Hyuk nodded, ready to lead Hakyeon back the way they came, onto the ramparts, down the wall, and out of danger. As they left the room, though, the three of them bumped right into the rest of their group.

"We couldn't find it," Wonshik said hopelessly. "And then we almost got caught. The marquis just up and decided he wanted to show off his trophy case to his new in-laws."

"The man has an impressive collection of first place medals in the joust, though," Jaehwan remarked thoughtfully.

"It's a good thing we had better luck," Hongbin hummed smugly as Hyuk held up the crest for everyone to see. Grins erupted on all of their faces, bringing one to Hakyeon's as well. "Let's get out of here."

Together they exited the castle, scaled the wall again, and headed back to the inn in the dead of night to celebrate in their own ways. Hongbn and Hyuk escaped to their room as soon as they got back. Wonshik and Jaehwan decided to go out and look for a place to buy a drink. In Hakyeon's case, he passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

\--

"When is that rich bastard getting here?" Wonshik huffed, tapping his foot and getting impatient. The six of them stood outside the pub, Hongbin concealing the stolen crest inside his vest. He leaned against the building with Taekwoon, who was looking like he hadn't slept very well. Hakyeon made a mental note to let him have the bed that night, should they sleep in the inn again before skipping town. 

"There he is," Hyuk said, nodding towards the rich bastard himself, walking down the street towards them. He stopped in front of them and Hyuk stepped forward. 

"We got your crest," he said. Hongbin pulled it out of his vest and handed it to Hyuk. The elf took it and held it up in front of the man, who looked mildly impressed.

"I realized after I talked with you that I've heard of you lot before. I know that you can do more than steal a crest," he said, making no move to take the pendant.

Hyuk looked confused. "So... what do you want? We got your pendant. Don't you have the rest of the money?"

"I've got another request for you, actually," the man replied. He crossed his arms as a wicked grin spread over his lips and bared sharp canines. "I want you to kill the marquis."

"You want _what_?" Hyuk asked, dumbfounded. He glanced back at Taekwoon, before he looked at the man again. "You want him dead?"

"That's right," the rich bastard nodded. "I'll pay you two thousand gold for the whole job."

Taekwoon's gang of thieves stood in stunned silence as the man looked over each of them in turn. When his eyes fell on Hakyeon, the elf felt an unpleasant chill run through him. Jaehwan shrunk back behind Wonshik, while Hongbin's fist tightened on the hunting knife at his hip.

"Double or nothing," the grinning man hummed smugly when he spoke again. "Will you do it?"


	5. Wicked Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Can you keep them occupied?” Taekwoon asked. He could see the guards nearing the corner by the flickering orange light on the walls from the torches they held.   
>  Hyuk nodded. “Go find him. We’ll be okay.”   
>  Taekwoon and Hyuk watched each other for a moment before Taekwoon nodded back at him firmly. He glanced one last time at the approaching light, then turned and ran into the shadows.

"You know what? Out of all the shitty, stupid things you guys have talked me into, this has got to be the craziest," Wonshik complained. He was sitting on the floor of his and Jaehwan's bedroom in the inn, sharpening his sword as he spoke. He guided his stone along the edge of his sword roughly, as if sharpening his weapon would help get his frustration out.

"Remember that time we went into that old elven ruin..." Jaehwan tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You said you thought it was a bad idea, and in the end we came out alive and with another companion...?"

"Your point?"

"I think you say the same thing every time we agree to something a little challenging," Jaehwan hummed. He sat on the bed, watching his boyfriend in amusement. Wonshik might look angry and scary, but he was relatively harmless to Jaehwan.

"I was right, though," Wonshik protested, looking up to scowl at Jaehwan. "When we went into that temple, it was dangerous. We could have died."

"Yet all five of us are still here; plus Hakyeon! Gaining a member is actually the opposite of dying. I think we've earned the benefit of the doubt, Shikkie."

"And I think the four of you should stop talking me into things that could get us killed."

Jaehwan decided to leave the matter alone for now. So far, they had gotten out of every dangerous thing they had ever done alive. Jaehwan thought that doing dangerous things was actually quite fun. There wasn't much to this mission anyways. Get in, kill the marquis, and get out. Simple. If they could carry out the mission in stealth, it would be an easy two thousand gold. Wonshik though that going back into that castle a second time was pushing their luck.

He had tried to convince Taekwoon to think differently. He didn't want to put their lives in danger again, and Jaehwan understood that. Wonshik loved his friends too much to watch them get hurt. However, Jaehwan understood that five hundred gold was cheap for stealing something as valuable as what they had stolen. It would be hard to skip town and find somewhere to sell the crest for the same amount as the one that rich bastard was going to pay them. It was a fat prize, and Taekwoon knew a good deal when he saw one. This mission was a definite one before the man had even finished his sentence. 

The two sat, unspeaking. It was quiet except for the steady _shing_ of Wonshik's stone on the blade of his sword. After a moment though, Wonshik broke the silence. 

"Just promise to be safe," he said softly. Wonshik looked up at Jaehwan with an expression that Jaehwan could only interpret as him reluctantly giving in. "Don't do anything stupid."

Jaehwan smiled at him and leaned down to stroke his cheek gently. "Only if you promise too. I wouldn't want to see you run through with an arrow again," he hummed, a playful twinkle in his eye. 

"You're not funny," Wonshik rolled his eyes, then nodded in agreement. Wonshik searched Jaehwan's face for a moment, then put his blade aside to reach up and lock their lips together in a kiss.

\--

"I don't have enough dawn lotus..." Hakyeon mumbled to himself, sorting through his herbs. He had gone out into the woods to gather as many herbs as he could the moment Taekwoon agreed to this mission. There was no way he would have gone back into that castle on his own, and if he could still choose, he wouldn't. So there was no way he was going in empty handed.

"Stop worrying so much. We'll be fine," Taekwoon sighed at him as he strung his bow, grunting a bit with effort.

"You honestly think everyone is going to be okay? We're going back into the castle, and we're going to kill someone, Taekwoon," Hakyeon replied, his voice tight. "There are probably going to be guards. It's going to be dangerous." 

"Every time we do something dangerous, we turn out okay," Taekwoon shrugged. Hakyeon thought he was being way too calm about this.

"I just have a bad feeling," Hakyeon was mumbling again, focusing on the leaves in front of him. His inventory was small. Five embrium flowers, six small elfroot leaves, two stalks of prophet's laurel, and only one dawn lotus. He felt unprepared. His throat tightened at the thought of watching someone get hurt and not being able to help. 

"Look," Taekwoon said suddenly, causing Hakyeon to look up from his task and meet his leader's eyes. "Our crew is capable. They were capable alone, and they're even more capable as a team. There's no reason to get so worried."

"But what if one of us doesn't come back?" Hakyeon asked, his voice small. 

"Don't say things like that. I'll always come back for you." Taekwoon replied immediately.

They stared at each other for a moment, Hakyeon's cheeks warming up as he put together Taekwoon's meaning in his head.

"What did you say?"

"I mean, you, as in all of you, all five of you," Taekwoon stumbled over his words trying to fix his statement. "You guys are like... my kids... or whatever." He stood up quickly, coughing into his fist and picking up his bow. Hakyeon's wide eyes followed him as he moved. "Finish up and tell everyone to meet me outside. And stop... stop looking at me like that."

\--

"Do you think we'll die?" Hyuk asked absently. He slid his sword into it's sheath and wrapped the belt it hung on around his waist.

"Why would you ask a question like that?" Hongbin frowned at him. "It's kind of morbid, isn't it?"

"I was just wondering," Hyuk shrugged. "I'm not really afraid of ding. I think it would probably be an adventure." 

Hongbin walked over to Hyuk and reached up, cupping the elf's face in his hands. Tracing the pads of his thumbs lightly over the vallaslin markings branching across Hyuk's cheekbones, Hongbin let out a little breath. 

"Do me a favor, Hyuk," Hongbin narrowed his eyes a bit and gave him a pointed look. "Don't die." 

Hyuk looked like he was about to reply, but before he could, Hakyeon poked his head in. It wouldn't have made Hyuk laugh if it weren't for Hakyeon's hands covering his eyes.

"Are you two decent?"

"Yes, Hakyeon," Hyuk chuckled. Hakyeon gave a relieved sigh and stepped into the room fully, dropping his hands to his sides. He wasn't really dressed for battle; wearing only some thin leather armor that Taekwoon had given him over his regular clothes. He had a utility belt with bags of herbs hanging off of it, as well as a sheathed dagger.

"Are you ready to go? Taekwoon wants us all to meet him outside," Hakyeon stated, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. 

"Is that all you have?" Hongbin asked, picking up his quiver of arrows and eyeing Hakyeon's almost weaponless utility belt. Hakyeon looked down at himself and shrugged. 

"I don't really have anything else. Plus, I'm not planning on killing anybody. Taekwoon said to just stay behind you guys anyways." 

Hyuk slung an arm around Hongbin's shoulders, grinning at Hakyeon. "Well, then by all means, let's get out of here." 

The three of them walked out of the inn to where Taekwoon, Wonshik, and Jaehwan stood. Wonshik nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot while Jaehwan held his hand loosely, absentmindedly watching a couple of stray cats play down the street. The sun was low in the sky, clouds turning shades of purple and pink as night fell. They could make it to the castle before night fell completely, but the rest of their task would be done in darkness.

"This is so stupid," Wonshik grumbled for the fifth time since they had left for the castle.

"We're going to be fine," Jaehwan hummed back at him.

The sun had set entirely when they arrived at their destination. The six of them stood facing the castle wall, their backs to the line of trees forming the forest behind them. 

"What's the plan?" Hongbin asked, not taking his eyes off the ramparts at the top of the wall.

"Get in, find him, kill him, and get out," Taekwoon replied shortly. 

"How do we prove we killed him?" Jaehwan wondered.

Take his crest. We can give it to that rich bastard as proof," Taekwoon shrugged.

"But you can just steal someone's crest off them. Will that be enough proof?" Hakyeon cocked his head in question.

"Well, I'm not going to cut off is head," Taekwoon scowled. "So it'll have to do." 

"After you kill the marquis of a town, the whole place will be chaos anyways. I'm sure he'll be able to tell," Hyuk hummed.

At that, Taekwoon began to scale the wall. One by one they climbed uAfterp, until they were on the ramparts again. After Taekwoon picked the lock to the door, they were inside.

"Should we split up again?" Hakyeon whispered, looking at Taekwoon.

"Too dangerous," Taekwoon shook his head. "Stick together."

The hallways were dark, lit only by the moonlight spilling in through the tall, evenly placed windows. Hongbin began to lead the way back to the master bedroom, his steps light and silent in the darkness. Everyone else did their best to be as stealthy as him, but no one aside from Taekwoon could quite match it. Hakyeon especially had trouble. Elves were known to be nimble, yes, but he was so nervous he couldn't keep himself steady.

So of course he was the one to bump straight into a suit of armor. He watched in frozen horror as the stand it was on tipped in slow motion. Taekwoon made an attempt to catch it before it fell, but his outstretched arm just broke the pieces apart, creating multiple loud crashes where before there would have just been one.

"Fucking hell, Hakyon," Hongbin hissed.

"I'm sorry!" Hakyeon apologized quickly, staring at the pieces of dull metal over the floor with wide eyes.

"What was that?" a voice called from around the corner.

"Fucking _hell_ , Hakyeon!" Hongbin complained more loudly this time, as they had already been caught. There was nowhere to hide, just a slim corridor to fight in.

"I-I'm sorry!" Hakyeon stuttered out, shrinking back helplessly.

Taekwoon surveyed the situation quickly. He took a couple light steps away from them, glancing from his companions, to the direction the voice came from, to the shadows in the hallway behind them. 

"Can you keep them occupied?" Taekwoon asked. He could see the guards nearing the corner by the flickering orange light on the walls form the torches they held. 

Hyuk nodded. "Go find him. We'll be okay." 

Taekwoon and Hyuk watched each other for a moment before Taekwoon nodded back at him firmly. He glanced one last time at the approaching light,then turned and ran into the shadows. 

Hyuk drew his sword and turned back towards the danger just as it rounded the corner. To his left, Hongbin had an arrow notched and his bow drawn as Hakyeon pulled his dagger out of it's sheath and shrank back behind Hongbin. To his right, Wonshik stood ready with his sword drawn, and Jaehwan had produced a ball of bright fire in his palm. There were two guards. Two against four, Hyuk thought, that wouldn't be so bad. If they could eliminate the enemy quietly, it wouldn't be such a big deal.

From behind them, three more guards skidded around the corner.

_Fuck._

Hongbin's arrow set the battle into action. He launched it towards the chest of the first guard, cursing when the guard lifted his shield and blocked it. The armored men charged towards them, so Hyuk charged forwards as well, followed quickly by Wonshik. They met in the middle in a frenzy of swinging swords and bashing shields. Wonshik and Hyuk worked back-to-back protecting the other while blocking and parrying attacks. Hyuk stabbed his sword into the chain mail of one man while Wonshik blocked the strike of another. Jaehwan sent fire their way, careful not to hit his teammates or catch fire to anything other than their enemies. A stray ball of flames whizzed past the tip of Wonshik's nose and into the helmet of the man lifting his sword to attack. 

"You're cutting it a little close, Jaehwan!" Wonshik yelled, his voice tense with the strain of parrying attacks.

"Sorry, baby!" Jaehwan replied, his own tone light with amusement. Hongbin glanced over to see him tossing a fireball from hand to hand and couldn't help but laugh. 

Notching another arrow, Hongbin sent it into the armpit of the man lifting his sword up for a blow to Hyuk's shoulder. The guard yelled, but lost the power in his strike and was pushed aside immediately by the grinning elf. Hyuk winked at him playfully and Hongbin cupped his hand around his mouth.

"Pay attention next time, stupid!" he called. Hyuk's laugh sounded through the clang of metal on metal, yells of pain, and grunts of effort. Before Hongbin knew it, two of the men slipped past Hyuk and Wonshik to run at Jaehwan and himself. One of the men was downed by a hot ball of fire to his chest. The second came straight for Hongbin, but he easily sidestepped the soldier's first blow.

"There's more!" Wonshik yelled from up the hallway.

"On your left!" Hyuk warned just as loudly. Hongbin glanced to his side to see Hyuk lunging in front of a guard aiming a blow at a preoccupied Wonshik. The puff of air of a sword swinging by his face brought Hongbin back to the problem at hand. He turned back to his current issue with a smirk. 

"You're not very good at this whole sword fighting thing, huh?" he hummed smugly to the guard. This one had no helmet on, so Hongbin could see his face clearly. He looked so young, his expression fearful, but poorly masked with faux courage. He looked like he wanted to reply, but Hongbin didn't give him the chance. Quickly slinging his bow over his shoulder, Honbin pulled out his knife and sank into a fighting stance.

"I'll give you one last try," Hongbin said with a teasing note in his voice.

The young man's brows furrowed in determination. He stabbed the tip of his sword at Hongbin's gut, but Hongbin dodged the blow. He twisted around the young man, spotted a gap in his armor near his shoulder blade, and shoved the dagger in.

"Too slow," he hissed, then pulled the blade out and watched as the young man crumpled to the floor. When he looked up, he saw more guards than they could even think of fighting. Wonshik backed away slowly, and Jaehwan was looking around frantically.

"Where the hell is Hakyeon?" he asked, his voice shrill with fear now.

Hongbin looked around too. The dark little elf was nowhere to be seen. In his search, his gaze fell on the crowd of guards marching towards them, hoping to find Hakyeon. What he saw made his knees weak.

"Hyuk."

Hyuk was lying on the ground, blood on his face and on his hands and on his clothes and everywhere. Hongbin couldn't tell how much of it was his. The elf's body was crumpled unnaturally, his arm curved awkwardly beneath his body, and his face turned towards Hongbin.

"Hyuk!" Hongbin yelled this time. He hadn't known he was running towards him until Wonshik's strong arms grabbed ahold of him and held him back. He couldn't see anything but Hyuk's beaten, unmoving body. He couldn't think of anything but getting Hyuk and getting the fuck out of there.

"Hongbin," Wonshik said firmly, trying to snap him out of it. "Hongbin, leave him." 

"No!"

"Hongbin, we need to go," Wonshik continued, dragging him backwards. Jaehwan came forward and helped him, each of them taking one of Hongbin's arms and pulling him backwards. 

Soon, Hongbin couldn't see Hyuk's body anymore. Whether it was because of the tears in his eyes, or the men closing in on them, he didn't know. He thrashed and fought his friends, sobbing and calling out Hyuk's name. Eventually, Wonshik gave up on trying to drag Hongbin and threw the short man over his shoulder instead.

Jaehwan tore a tapestry off the walland threw it down across the ground, then lit the thing up to keep their pursuers from following. After taking a few steps back, making sure it would really hold them off for a time, he turned with Wonshik and ran.

\--

Hakyeon stumbled through the woods, shaking and scared. It was dark, so dark. He couldn't see where he was, or where he was going. He tripped over roots and stumbled into trees. Paranoia fogged up his brain and tingled in his fingertips, making him feel like someone was following him. 

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he called, his voice trembling like the rest of him. He sniffled, barely holding back panicked tears. Faintly, he could see a break in the trees and began to run towards it. The roots made him stumble, and the branches hung low and scratched at his skin, as if they were trying to make him stay. When he emerged, he found himself staring at the castle wall again, the same castle wall he had climbed down alone. He had run away as soon as the danger came. He had left his friends. He was so selfish.

"Is anyone there...?" he called out again, this time weaker. He hugged himself, nails digging into his forearms as he tried to hold himself together. They could be dead, because of him. He gathered all those herbs to help, and for what? So he could just run away and leave them for dead?

"Hakyeon?"

A familiar voice rang out in the darkness. Hakyeon turned his head quickly to see Taekwoon's broad figure in the moonlight. 

"Taekwoon," Hakyeon said, relief practically deflating his tense muscles. "Gods, I was so-"

"Where are the others?"

_Where are the others?_ The questin rang in his skull as if it was just a hollow shell. Where were they? Where could they be? Hakyeon had no idea.

"I-I don't know..." 

"What are you talking about?" Taekwoon demanded. "How could you not know?"

"I was so scared, I ran away," Hakyeon repeated quietly, shrinking away from Taekwoon as the tears threatened to spill. "I ran away..." 

"You left them?" Taekwoon's voice was soft, almost disbelieving.

"Yes," Hakyeon choked out, leaning against a tree on the very edge of the woods. His knees were weak and his chest felt shallow, like he couldn't breathe deep enough. His vision blurred with tears as he sank to the ground. 

"What happened?" Taekwoon asked. The man was standing over him now. Hakyeon was shivering, cowering against the trunk.

"The guards came, there were so many, and I got scared so I-" Hakyeon put a hand on his chest, as if it would help steady his rapidly quickening breath. He was talking so fast, trying to get as many words in before he ran out of air and had to gasp for more again. 

"I ran and I-" He gasped. "I'm sorry, I can't-"

"Hakyeon," Taekwoon knelt down in front of him. Hakyeon was sure he would be angry, but the man just looked concerned. Perhaps he really was angry. Maybe it was because it was dark, or because he was crying so much that Taekwoon looked more worried than upset with him. 

"I'm sorry," Hakyeon repeated breathlessly. His eyes were unfocused, his trembling fist clenched around the fabric over his chest. "I ran, I-"

"Stop," Taekwoon told him, reaching out to put a hand on his arm. "It's okay." 

_It's okay_. Another sentence to echo in his brain. _Where are the others? It's okay_

"It's okay?" Hakyeon repeated, looking up at Taekwoon with an unsure expression. His brows turned up in the middle with sad confusion, but he was able to focus on him. Taekwoon's broad shoulders in the moonlight, Taekwoon's soft hand on his forearm, his cool dark eyes on Hakyeon.

"It's okay," Taekwoon confirmed. "We'll find them."

"We'll find them," Hakyeon breathed. He felt himself start to calm down slowly. His breath became steadier with each expansion of his lungs. Hakyeon put his hand over Taekwoon's and held it there for a moment before gently pushing it off. Taekwoon gave him a moment to settle down a little before speaking again. 

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," Hakyeon nodded, starting to feel embarrassed about his breakdown. "I'm sorry. I'm okay."

Taekwoon stood up again, so Hakyeon slowly followed his lead. His knees were still shaky, so he leaned against the tree until he could stand on his own. 

"Could they still be inside the castle?" Taekwoon wondered. "Maybe we should go find them."

Hakyeon thought that was a terrible idea. He thought that going back into any castle ever again was probably a terrible idea. However, it occurred to him that Taekwoon was outside the castle as well, meaning something must have happened. 

"Did you finish the job?" Hakyeon asked.

Taekwoon looked back at the elf and nodded. "I did." 

"You really killed him?"

"That was the job, wasn't it?"

Hakyeon fell silent. He did his best not to think about what could have happened to his friends after he left them. He also tried not to think about Taekwoon murdering someone in cold blood. The effort of not thinking about the things that were filling up his rain left him blankly staring at the grass until Taekwoon moved suddenly. 

"I'm going to look for them," he said, heading towards the wall. 

As soon as he took his first step, the door to the ramparts burst open and Jaehwan spilled out. Wonshik, who was carrying a limp Hongbin, followed him. Hakyeon's heart jumped into his throat at the sight of Hongbin's body slung across Wonshik's shoulders. Jaehwan slammed the door shut behind them and yelled for Wonshik to hurry up as he leaned his weight against it. 

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Wonshik yelled back at him. Hakyeon watched him slowly climb down the wall until he was at the bottom. He adjusted Hongbin's body on his shoulders and shouted up to Jaehwan. 

"Come down!"

Jaehwan was much quicker in his descent. The mage ran for the woods as soon as he got to the bottom of the wall. Taekwoon ducked into the trees, pulling Hakyeon with him as guards lined the edge of the ramparts and arrows rained down from their bows. Wonshik was the last to get to cover, but once he was safe under the trees, he dropped Hongbin onto the ground. 

"Why is he so damn heavy?" he complained, panting. Wonshik's clothes stuck to his sweaty skin and his hair looked damp as he leaned over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. 

"What's wrong with him?" Taekwoon asked, looking over Hongbin. He was sitting up in the grass now, head hung low to hide his face, but he didn't appear to be injured.

"Well, um," Jaehwan began, but Taekwoon noticed another problem before he could finish.

"Where is Hyuk?"

Hongbin looked up at Taekwoon slowly. Although it was dark, Hakyeon could still see his tears, and the way his eyes and nose were puffy and red from crying. His stomach dropped. 

"He's..." Jaehwan started, but didn't have the heart to finish his sentence. 

"We had to leave him," Wonshik continued for him, ducking his head in shame. "We couldn't help him."

"We could have." Hongbin said. His voice sounded hollow as he turned towards Hakyeon sluggishly, as if his body wasn't responding fast enough. "Where were you? You're supposed to help us."

"I-" Hakyeon took a half step back, taken aback by the emptiness in Hongbin's tone.

"Where were you?" Hongbin yelled with the last of his energy, leaning forward with the effort of it before he dropped his head into his hands again. Hakyeon stared at him, holding his breath, until he felt Taekwoon's gentle touch on his shoulder.

"We need to get out of here," he said. He sounded calm, but Hakyeon could hear the icy undertone in his voice. Jaehwan tried to get Hongbin to stand up on his own, but after a couple minutes of him being unresponsive, Wonshik just huffed and picked him up himself. Their journey back to the inn was absolutely silent.

\--

Hakyeon sat on the bed in his and Taekwoon's room, his knees pulled to his chest. Taekwoon was pacing back and forth at the foot of the bed. Nervous energy rolled off him in waves. 

"Taekwoon," Hakyeon started quietly.

"Don't say anything," Taekwoon cut him off. His voice was harsher than it usually was. Louder. Hakyeon thought it was unsettling.

"You seem upset," Hakyeon ventured, hoping that prodding at it would cause him to calm down and talk it out rather than explode.

"I should have been there. I shouldn't have run off," Taekwoon began to rant. "I should have helped you guys. I knew there would be guards. I shouldn't have let you be the diversion. Now Hyuk is gone. Hongbin is a mess. I shouldn't have left. You were so scared. I shouldn't have let this happen."

"Taekwoon, there's no way you could have known..." Hakyeon replied, his voice small in the presence of Taekwoon's anger.

"I should have been there," Taekwoon repeated, getting louder. Hakyeon wanted to speak again, but Taekwoon beat him to it.

"I should have fucking known!" In a burst of his own anger, he turned quickly and drove his fist into the dresser. Hakyeon flinched, both at the volume of his yell and the sound of his knuckles hitting the wood. 

"Taekwoon," Hakyeon tried. Taekwoon punched it again, and when he pulled away, Hakyeon could see blood left on the drawers. He slid off the bed, his knees shaking again as he approached Taekwoon.

"Taekwoon, please," he pleaded as Taekwoon hit the dresser again, cursing loudly. He caught Taekwoon's arm before he could abuse the furniture a fourth time, then wiped at the blood on the wood with his sleeve. "You're hurting yourself."

"I don't care," Taekwoon said, quiet now. His gaze fell on Hakyeon, his usually neutral expression twisted into one of guilt. 

"Don't say that," Hakyeon shook his head slightly, taking Taekwoon's injured hand in both of his and examining his knuckles. Without words, he pulled a strip of bandaging fabric out of his pocket and wrapped it carefully around Taekwoon's hand. 

"I think it should have been me." Hakyeon continued after a moment, running his thumb carefully over the tightly wrapped bandage. "Instead of Hyuk. It should have been me."

"Don't," Taekwoon frowned.

"I'm sorry," Hakyeon sighed an apology, dropping Taekwoon's hand. "I shouldn't have run away. I was scared but... it doesn't matter." He looked up at Taekwoon. "Don't punch any more furniture, okay?"

"Okay," Taekwoon nodded, then took a half step back from Hakyeon and sucked in a slow, deep breath. "Go get some rest." 

"You too," Hakyeon watched him for a moment longer before turning away and heading for the bed. He collapsed into it, pulled the scratchy blanket up around his chin, and closed his eyes. He was so exhausted that he fell asleep before Taekwoon had even blown out the candle. 

\--

They could barely get Hongbin out of bed the next day, but after an hour or so of struggling, they managed to get him up, dressed, and out the door. The five of them headed towards the tavern, the mood of their group entirely miserable. It wasn't just Hongbin mourning the loss of Hyuk. All of them had lost a friend.

They stood outside the building in a sad little gaggle until the rich bastard approached once again. Taekwoon held out the new crest lifelessly, which wiped the man's arrogant grin right off his face. 

"This is all you have?" the man asked haughtily. "How do I know he's really dead?"

"Trust me," Taekwoon glared at the man. "He's dead." 

The rich bastard sighed, digging the money out of his rich bastard pockets. "It seems as though you are missing one of your crew."

Jaehwan put his arm around Hongbin, who was barely holding it together. "Don't worry about it," he said protectively.

The man took the crest and handed over the gold. "Was the loss worth it, boys? Money is money, as they say," he chuckled, trading the heavy pouches for the crest. "I'll find you the next time I need my dirty work done."

"Don't," Taekwoon scowled, then turned and lead his family away. Together they left town with everything they owned on their backs. Their destination was uncertain. Their only goal was to get out of town. They walked almost all day in silence. Jaehwan attempted to spark up a conversation once or twice, but no one was in the mood. That night, they circled up around a fire with one extra bedroll. Hongbin had insisted on carrying both his and Hyuk's.

Hongbin sat staring blankly at the fire, watching the flames lick at the air with his hands rested in his lap. Hakyeon approached him slowly. He knew that this was his fault, and he wanted to apologize. They had been avoiding the subject of Hyuk, but Hakyeon felt as if he didn't have the right to just not talk about it. 

"Hongbin," Hakyeon said gently, kneeling down next to him. Hongbin didn't even react.

"Hongbin," Hakyeon tried again, putting his hand on the man's shoulder. "I'm sorry about-"

In a second, Hakyeon was on his back and Hongbin was on top of him. His legs were useless under Hongbin's, and his wrists bound by Hongbin's fingers, pinned by his weight. The cold metal of Hongbin's sharp dagger pushed against his throat.

"Don't fucking talk to me like that," Hongbin growled, his eyes cold.

"Hongbin, please," Hakyeon choked, eyes wide and scared as he tried to pull his wrists free.

"Don't fucking talk to me like he's gone."

"Hongbin, I'm not- I didn't mean to-" Hakyeon didn't know what to say, how to calm Hongbin down so that he didn't cut his throat open right then and there. He wasn't himself. He had been walking around listlessly since they had been reunited at the bottom of the castle wall. The fire in his eyes and the energy in his limbs only came alive so that he could unleash his anger on Hakyeon. 

"It's your fault," Hongbin snarled, pressing the blade harder into Hakyeon's throat until he could feel it break the skin. Hakyeon thought, if he lived through this, he'd have bruises on his wrists where Hongbin's fingers had been.

"I know," Hakyeon whispered. Tears stung his eyes, so he closed them. If Hongbin was going to kill him, Hakyeon wished he'd do it quickly.

"Fuck, Hongbin, what the hell are you doing?" Wonshik's panicked voice came with the sound of two pairs of footsteps running towards them, and Hongbin's weight being lifted away. Hakyeon opened his eyes and took a deep breath, watching Jaehwan and Wonshik wrestle back a struggling Hongbin until there was a safe distance between him and Hakyeon. The elf put his fingertips to his throat, pulling them back to see a small amount of blood there. 

"It's his fault!" Hongbin yelled, trying to break free as Wonshik hooked both his arms under Hongbin's armpits and Jaehwan attempted to pry the dagger from his fingers. "He was supposed to help us!"

Hakyeon scrambled away, scared of what Hongbin might do if he broke free from them in this state. "I'm sorry," he apologized for what felt like the millionth time since they had been reunited the night before, his voice barely a whisper.

"It's not enough!" Hongbin screamed, "Do your stupid elfy shit! Bring him back!" Jaehwan had gotten the knife from him, but it didn't stop his efforts to break free from Wonshik. 

"I can't," Hakyeon said in a strained voice. "That's not how it works."

"Bring him back! Bring him _back!"_ Hongbin was crying again. Hakyeon was beginning to feel sick. "Bring him back to me! I can't lose anyone else, bring him back, Hakyeon, please." Hongbin's tempter deteriorated into helpless begging, leaving him slack in Wonshik's arms and leaning back against him. "Please, Hakyeon, please, I know you can, _please_..."

When Hongbin stopped fighting, Jaehwan pulled him into a hug. Wonshik shared a worried look with his boyfriend before he lead Hongbin away from the fire, petting his hair as he cried. Hakyeon hated the way Hongbin had been reduced to this, barely holding himself together, switching violently from feeling intense grief and anger to not feeling anything at all. He hated that he knew it was his fault. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really mean in this chapter....... sorry ;A; angst is basically just a team building exercise, though, right? Right?   
> Syd and Denise were both a big help with this chapter and the next one too and basically probably this whole fic like thanking them is redundant but i'm very grateful that people were willing to help me with this ;-; so thanks @ them  
> And one last thing: even though i did a lot of mean shit in this chapter, i hope you still liked it!!


	6. In Your Heart Shall Burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Taekwoon," Jaehwan said gently, patting his bed roll. "You've been up all night and all morning. Why don't you try and get some sleep?" 
> 
> "Can't," Taekwoon replied simply, and went back to worrying. Jaehwan gave a tired sigh and Wonshik put a hand on his shoulder with a sympathetic nod. Hongbin felt kind of bad for them. He had been nothing but handful, and now he had caused this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, it's been a while. life has been pretty hectic lately ;A; how are you guys doing?

Travel was slow with one less person to carry things, and with the state Hongbin was in, things were even slower. With every glance Hakyeon stole in Hongbin's direction, he wished more and more that it had been his own body on the floor instead of Hyuk's. He wished Hongbin had sliced his throat open the night after it had happened. It was his own fault, so didn't he deserve to die too?

The overall mood of their group was solemn. No one spoke more than they had to on their journey through the woods. They moved as if they were missing a piece, awkward and bumbling and miserable. Jaehwan tried to crack jokes, but nobody ever took the bait to hear the punchline. All of them silently tried to communicate who was going to walk next to Hongbin. They hadn't realized until Hyuk was gone that he had always been on Hongbin's right side. Now that he wasn't with them, the space was empty. Luckily, Hongbin chose to stick close to Jaehwan and Wonshik, but he refused to even look in Hakyeon's direction. Hakyeon understood. If he were Hongbin, he would have done the same thing. 

Taekwoon, however, looked the guiltiest Hakyeon had ever seen him. He wouldn't talk about Hyuk's death when Hakyeon prodded, but he knew the reason. Taekwoon wished he had been there when it happened, so he might have done something to stop it. Hakyeon wished the same thing, but he knew that there would have been no difference in the outcome. There was nothing Hakyeon could have done to fight off anybody. If he were honest, he felt useless. He couldn't pick out a single useful thing he was good at. He certainly wasn't good at keeping his friends safe.

Wonshik looked exhausted when they stopped, dropping his pack off his shoulders and kneeling down by the stream for a drink. 

"Let's stop for the night," He said, looking up a Taekwoon. "We're tired and hungry. Hongbin and I can," He stopped himself and looked at Hongbin, who sat down with empty eyes and refused Jaehwan's canteen of water. "I mean, maybe just you and me... we can go hunting." 

Hakyeon dropped his pack too, walking on wobbly legs over to the water where he filled up his own bottle. 

"I don't know," Jaehwan asked, his patience worn thin by now. "What's the rush? We're all tired and upset, let's just rest." 

"Hakyeon watched the encounter carefully, Taekwoon's unsure expression unsettling him. Taekwoon was always sur eof his actions. Why was it different this time? Jaehwan was unusually tense as well. Wonshik wasn't doing anything to soothe his lover, because he was busy trying to coax Hongbin into drinking. Hongbin sat still with his gaze locked on his hands in his lap until Wonshik put a hand on the back of his head. Hongbin slapped it away quickly with the back of his hand and lifted his head just a bit to glare at Wonshik. Wonshik shrunk back and Hakyeon dropped his head into his hands. They used to work so well together, but now they were all tense and walking on eggshells around Hongbin.

 _It's because Hyuk is dead,_ Hakyeon thought, rubbing his temples. 

Hakyeon couldn't remember what they used to do, back when he was a child in the golden days of halamshiral. What did they do with the dead? Did they burn them? Or bury them to live with the bodies of the halla in the ground, and let them feed the earth? In the end, everything came full circle somehow, but he felt that there should be some ritual for death in order to let those who passed rest in peace. Things like that required a body. Maybe if Hongbin saw Hyuk's body off into death, he could move on. It wouldn't right all of Hakyeon's wrongs, but it might make things a little better. 

"Well, are you going to help me or not?" Jaehwan's voice pulled Hakyeon out of his thoughts. He looked up at the man standing over him and blinked dumbly. 

"With what?" he asked. 

"Taekwoon and Wonshik left to go catch something to eat. You, me, and Hongbin are going to set up camp," Jaehwan explained. "There's not much to do, just start a fire, make enough room to lay out mats..." He looked around to assess the amount of work to be done on their little clearing. "If we can roll that log over just a little bit, there will probably be enough room to make a circle around the fire," he hummed thoughtfully. After a moment of looking around and making a list of chores in his head, Jaehwan realized something that made his stomach flip. 

"Where is Hongbin?" he asked, his voice tense.

Hakyeon panicked, getting up immediately to participate in the search. The frenzy was short-lived, however, because Hongbin stepped out of the trees with a bundle of sticks in his hands. Jaehwan and Hakyeon watched him in shock as he walked towards the middle of the clearing and dropped his sticks on the ground. Slowly, he looked up at Jaehwan. 

"You can make the fire, right?" he asked. It was the first thing they had heard him say all day.

"Oh! Yes! Yes, I can make the fire! Why don't you gather some bigger sticks that will burn for longer?" Jaehwan smiled widely, delighted by Hongbin's sudden interest in participating in group activities and communicating with words. "Don't worry about breaking the sticks either, if you find big branches. I can break them all. Unless you feel up to it! Then you can break them, if you want!" 

Hongbin grunted, which was a little less impressive than an entire sentence, but still something. He turned around and headed back out to wander in the trees around their little clearing. Jaehwan started setting up the fire, neatly making a circle with rocks from the riverbank and leaning the sticks against each other inside it. He hummed to himself while he worked, snapping and creating a small flame on his fingertip that he used to light the twigs and start the fire. Hongbin came back and forth with more big sticks, making a pile near the fire for Jaehwan to feed the flames as it grew. Eventually, Jaehwan left the fire and pushed the log aside before he laid out their mats around the flames.

"Hakyeon, do you mind filling up everyone's water?" he hummed happily, looking up and around the empty clearing. "Hakyeon?" 

Hongbin shuffled back into their camp to drop an armful of sticks into the pile he was making. He watched Jaehwan's pleased expression twist into confusion. 

"Where did Hakyeon go?" Jaehwan asked Hongbin, figuring he might be helpful now that he decided he was ready to talk again. Hongbin just shrugged, deemed the pile to have enough sticks to last them for a while, and sat down against the trunk of a tree. "You didn't see him in the woods? Is he collecting firewood?" Jaehwan tried again, but he was met with another shrug. 

"Well... I guess I'll fill up the water..." Jaehwan was confused, but he was sure Hakyeon could handle himself. If he wasn't with them, then he was out collecting firewood, and he'd be back when he thought he had found enough.

Two hours later, Jaehwan was still sitting alone with Hongbin in the dying light of the day, poking at the fire with a stick. The clearing was still free of Hakyeon, even after all that time. He had actually begun to worry around the first hour, but he couldn't leave Hongbin alone at camp in the state he was in, so he had to tell himself that everything was fine. Hakyeon had probably gotten a little lost and was finding his way back. Or maybe he wandered so far that he met up with Taekwoon, Wonshik, and their dinner. When the two of them entered the clearing again with dinner, they too were Hakyeon-less.

"We set everything up!" Jaehwan attempted to maintain his cheery attitude, even though things looked kind of dire. "Hongbin even helped to collect the firewood!" 

"We caught a couple rabbits," Wonshik sat down on the ground by the fire. "I can gut them and cook them, it should be enough for the five of us." 

"Yeah, that sounds good," Jaehwan nodded as Wonshik got to work. He looked away, towards Taekwoon, who was still standing. He looked like he was doing a head count. "You guys didn't happen to see Hakyeon while you were out, did you?" 

Taekwoon's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "No. He was supposed to help set up camp. Where is he?" 

Jaehwan rubbed at the back of his neck. "Ah... I was hoping he was with you."

"You mean you lost him?" Taekwoon asked, his voice raising slightly in alarm. 

"Well, let's not get excited, he's a grown man- um, elf- and he can take care of himself. I'm sure he just went out to get firewood and got lost," Jaehwan held up his hands, trying and failing to get Taekwoon to calm down. "What reason would he have to run away from us?" 

Taekwoon turned his narrowed eyes onto Hongbin, who looked up a moment later and met his gaze with a look of disdain. 

"What are you looking at me for?" he scowled.

"You tried to kill him," Taekwoon replied immediately, his voice sharp.

For a moment, Hongbin looked like he felt guilty, but his expression quickly twisted into anger. "He is the reason Hyuk is dead, Taekwoon! What good is a healer who runs away? I don't care if he let! I'd prefer it actually! If he stuck around, I really would have to kill him!" 

"Hongbin-" Wonshik started, but Taekwoon began to advance on Hongbin and Wonshik had to cut himself off to scramble to his feet and break up a potential fight. 

"Don't you fucking say that," Taekwoon snarled, clenching his fists at his sides as Wonshik put his hand on Taekwoon's chest to stop him from getting any closer to Hongbin.

"Taekwoon, it's not worth it, he's just upset-" Wonshik said, his words rushed as he looked at Taekwoon and tried to catch his eye. Taekwoon's dark glare was focused on Hongbin, who was cowering instead of looking for a fight. 

"I don't care about that. There's no excuse for trying to kill a friend. There's no fucking excuse to say that you want him to die." He tried to take another step towards Hongbin, but Wonshik just barely managed to hold him in place. Hongbin's expression was one of guilt and alarm, his wide eyes trained on Taekwoon.

"If you lay a hand on him," Taekwoon continued, shoving Wonshik off him and stepping back, keeping his eyes locked on Hongbin's. "I'll make you pay for it." With that, he turned his back on Hongbin and Wonshik to sit down in front of the fire. After a moment of watching the flames, he looked up at Jaehwan, who was still staring at him in shock.

"What are you looking at?" he grumbled. Jaehwan swallowed before answering.

"I just, um, well, I just thought that after all that, you might go look for him," the mage replied. 

"I can't. It's dark. I can't see anything, there's no use. I'd just be looking until I got lost," Taekwoon explained reluctantly. "I'll look for him in the morning."

\--

Hakyeon wasn't lost. He was right where he wanted to be. Which was... Okay, he was a little lost. He hadn't known when he'd get another chance to slip away, so he made the dumb decision of leaving at dusk the night before, and sleeping in the cold night alone with nothing to keep him warm. He couldn't say it was the worst decision he'd ever made, but it wasn't the best one either.

He was on his way back to the village they had left two days prior. He was almost sure he was going in the right direction, but he always had his doubts. He had been traveling all day by himself, and because he left before Taekwoon and Wonshik came back with food, he was starving. His stomach growled and he put a hand over it, groaning. He didn't have any money either, so he couldn't buy food when he got back to the village. If he _ever_ got back to the village. The only things he had on him were a hunting knife that Taekwoon had given him and his healing herbs. He should have picked a better time to leave. 

Eventually, he found his way back to the village. As he walked through the streets, he expected to be pointed at and called out as a thief and a murderer. He had stolen the crest of the marquis and returned the next night to take his life, after all. However, the only thing he got was weird looks at his ears and his vallaslin as people walked past. He smoothed his dirty clothes out and took a deep breath. Getting back to the village was only half the work. Now he had to find Hyuk's body and bring it back to them. Then they could bury it or burn it or do whatever Hongbin wanted to do with it and he would be able to move on. 

Hakyeon found his way back to the tavern where they had met the rich bastard. Everything looked pretty normal, for a town that just had a major shift in power. Hakyeon leaned against the wall of the building, closing his eyes again to think of where he might find Hyuk's body. If he died in the castle, would they have just thrown him out? They wouldn't just leave a body on castle grounds, right? Maybe he would be outside the wall somewhere. He'd have to steal a wheelbarrow or something in order to carry Hyuk. He wasn't strong enough to carry that lanky elf in his arms all the way back through the woods. It would be hard to maneuver a wheelbarrow through the thick trees, though. How would Hongbin feel seeing Hyuk dumped on the ground out of a wheelbarrow like a dead animal? No, Hakyeon was sure he could present the body delicately. Bringing Hyuk's body back would provide Hongbin with a sense of closure and comfort. He mulled over the topic until a familiar voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Hey! Hakyeon!"

Hakyeon stiffened, standing straight and looking around in alarm. He was alone in this town. No one should know his name, so why did he hear it?" 

"Hakyeon! Over here!" 

Hakyeon followed the voice with his eyes. Suddenly his knees grew weak. He put a hand on the wall of the tavern to brace himself, the other on his chest. 

"Oh my gods," he whispered in disbelief.

"Hey!" Hyuk grinned at him, raising one hand up in greeting as he limped across the street towards him. His other hand was bracing a branch with the twigs broken off, and he was using it as a cane. His clothes were bloody and ripped, but his skin was only soiled with dirt and dust. His forehead sported a large bruise surrounding a cut that had scabbed over, and he had a piece of cloth wrapped tightly around the leg that he was favoring.

"What's going on?" Hakyeon asked, but his voice came out small and breathy. Hyuk looked confused. 

"What do you mean what's going on? Did they send you back to heal me up before we go?" Hyuk asked, then put his free hand on his hip and sighed happily as he stopped in front of Hakyeon. "That's nice of them. They didn't know I was going to hurt my leg, but they sent you anyways. Aw, they're always thinking of me and shit."

"Hyuk," Hakyeon's hands were shaking as he reached out to touch Hyuk, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "You're here. You're alive." 

"Well, obviously," Hyuk cocked his head. "Is something wrong? You look kind of pale." 

"You're alive," Hakyeon repeated, his eyes welling up with tears. "Oh my gods, you're alive. How are you alive? They said they saw you die. I thought it was my fault because I ran and- and Hongbin! Oh my gods, you're alive! Hongbin is going to be thrilled! They're all going to be so happy, Hyuk, we really thought you were dead!" 

"What do you mean you thought I was dead?" Hyuk frowned in confusion. 

"I just mean that, that you died, and everyone is mourning and upset and Hongbin, well, Hongbin's not doing well at all, actually." Hakyeon's mind was running a mile a minute with this new information. "We should get you back as soon as we can. They'll all be so happy you're okay!" 

"You mean... are you saying you don't know?" Hyuk asked, putting a hand on Hakyeon's shoulder to stop him. 

"What do you mean I don't know? Don't know what? Hakyeon looked up at Hyuk. "Is there something we should have known?" 

Hyuk gave him a tense smile. "You might need to sit down... let's go somewhere where you can fix me up and we can talk about it." 

\--

Hongbin sat against his tree in the clearing, sipping water and watching Taekwoon pace back and forth. Their leader had looked for hours earlier today to find the man who was at fault for Hyuk's death. It shouldn't matter. Let him be. Let him run away if he wants to. There was no fixing this.

Taekwoon looked so worried, though, when he had come back empty handed. He hadn't found anything. Hongbin knew he was better at tracking than Taekwoon, but he wasn't about to offer his help. He didn't care. 

He didn't care, really. He shouldn't care. He felt a little regret for threatening Hakyeon's life, but Hakyeon had deserved it, hadn't he? Hyuk was gone because of him. He wanted to believe that, but the more he thought about it, the more he saw the truth. No one could have stopped Hyuk's death. It wasn't any one person's fault. There was no way they would have been able to help him even if Hakyeon had been there. He knew Hakyeon couldn't fight. If anything, they would just have had another dead body, and then where would they be?

He groaned to himself and dropped his head into his hands. It wasn't fair that Hyuk was gone, but he wasn't the only one mourning. This wasn't just about him and he regretted making it seem that way lately. He should have offered his help to Taekwoon. Even watching him now, running his fingers through his hair and mumbling about all the places Hakyeon might have ended up with his stressed out expression, Hongbin couldn't open his mouth and speak up. After their fight the night before, Hongbin felt like he should keep his distance for a while. For a split second, he thought about going out to look for Hakyeon himself, but he pushed the thought away with pictures of how worried Wonshik and Jaehwan would be. 

"Taekwoon," Jaehwan said gently, patting his bed roll. "You've been up all night and all morning. Why don't you try and get some sleep?" 

"Can't," Taekwoon replied simply, and went back to worrying. Jaehwan gave a tired sigh and Wonshik put a hand on his shoulder with a sympathetic nod. Hongbin felt kind of bad for them. He had been nothing but handful, and now he had caused this.

He didn't hate Hakyeon. Hakyeon had saved Wonshik's life, found the crest in that marquis' bedroom, and attempted to joke around with them during their down time, even though his sense of humor was old fashioned. Over the past couple weeks since they had saved him from that temple in Orlais, Hongbin had taken a liking to him. What if Hakyeon hurt himself? What if Hakyeon got himself killed because of what Hongbin said and did to him? Ugh, he was turning into Taekwoon.

Hakyeon would come back sooner or later, right?

\--

"You're saying, you planned it?" Hakyeon asked at the same time that he set Hyuk's leg. Hyuk yelled in pain and pounded his fist into the ground once, then opened his eyes and stared up at the sky, chest heaving. 

"Yes," Hyuk panted. "We planned it. I thought he told you all." 

"He didn't," Hakyeon began to work with his herbs on Hyuk's swollen leg. "You know, this injury isn't as bad as it looked at first."

"How do you know that?" Hyuk asked, putting his forearm over his eyes and trying to distract himself from the pain.

"I can feel it," Hakyeon replied, casually cutting his forearm to draw blood for the ritual. "I thought it was a clean break, but it's just a fracture."

"Does that mean this is going to hurt less?" Hyuk dared to hope, his voice strained as he peeked down at Hakyeon. The elf made thumbprints of his blood over Hyuk's injury and took a moment to think before answering.

"No," Hakyeon replied simply, then began to whisper the spell. The feeling of Hyuk's bone healing itself was painful. A mix of disgust and agony swelled in his gut as his leg straightened and mended itself slowly. He couldn't even bring himself to yell, so he just closed his eyes and let his jaw fall open with the shock of it. Holding his breath, he pressed his palms into his eyes until it was finished.

"Fuck," Hyuk breathed when it was finally over, blinking tears from his eyes. "I'm surprised Wonshik didn't wake up screaming when you did this to him.

"Wonshik was at the brink of death," Hakyeon shrugged. "He slept for a long time because he needed time to heal." 

"Don't I need time to heal?" Hyuk frowned.

"I would offer to knock you out, but I don't think we really have time for that. Then I really would have to carry you back in a wheelbarrow through the woods," Hakyeon sighed, moving on to Hyuk's head and pushing his hair out of the way.

"What are you talking about?" Hyuk frowned, moving his arm to look up at Hakyeon.

"Nothing," Hakyeon shook his head, smiling a little. "I'm just glad you're alive."

Hyuk saw Hakyeon move for his herbs again and stiffened. "Look, dude, I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't think you need to do that ritual again," He began to sit up to escape, but Hakyeon pushed him back down with a hand on his shoulder.

"Lay back down. You have a concussion."

"What the hell is a concussion?"

"You won't have to worry about it after I fix it."

"I'm really fine," Hyuk tried to sit up again, but Hakyeon pushed a hand down on his chest and glared at him.

"Don't make me sit on you," Hakyeon threatened.

After a moment, Hyuk gave up. He let Hakyeon set the herbs out on his head and circle the wound with thumbprints of blood. He appreciated Hakyeon's comforting hand in his hair as he mumbled the chant. His skin stretched and tightened as the cut healed, and his brain felt like it was a bunch of pieces moving around until they all settled back into their rightful places. Despite the pain, his head felt clearer afterwards.

"That one didn't hurt as much," Hyuk noted breathlessly after it was done. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath and bracing himself for the pain until it was over. 

"You're welcome," Hakyeon sighed, pulling away and brushing the herbs off Hyuk's forehead and his leg. "You should be good to go." 

Hyuk sat up, watching Hakyeon sit back and put a hand over the still bleeding cut on his arm. Hakyeon found to keep his eyes open as he groped for the cloth that Hyuk had wrapped around his leg. Hyuk grabbed it for him, then took Hakyeon's wrist in his hand and wrapped the cloth around the wound. 

"Do you need to rest?" he asked, tying the cloth in a tight knot and watching the fabric soak up Hakyeon's blood.

"No, no, we can go," Hakyeon wiped his knife off on his pants and tucked it back into his belt. His voice was quieter than before and his actions were slower. "They'll all be happy to see you."

Hyuk stood up and brushed off his pants, then helped Hakyeon up who was much more unsteady than he was. Hakyeon took a moment to gather himself, seeing stars. 

"Are you sure?" Hyuk asked, holding Hakyeon's forearm. Hakyeon pulled his arm away to rub his face, then shook his head to clear the stars away. He took a tentative step forwards, got through it without stumbling, then took another.

"Yeah. I'll be a little slow, but let's go."

\--

Night was falling the day after Hakyeon had gone missing, and Taekwoon still had yet to sleep. It would be their second night staying here. They were vulnerable and unprepared to defend themselves, but how else would Hakyeon find them? Hongbin and Jaehwan had said they hadn't seen which way Hakyeon had wandered, so there wasn't even a place to start looking, or a path to follow. Taekwon was afraid he'd go looking and find Hakyeon face down in the stream. 

Wonshik strode back into the clearing with the catch of the day: another rabbit accompanied by a squirrel. Taekwoon watched him expectantly from where he sat on the edge of the clearing, but Wonshik just shook his head. He hadn't found Hakyeon either. 

Jaehwan was doing his best to keep the mood light. "Wonshik is back with dinner! I really love eating rabbit, I'm really happy you keep catching them!" he said cheerfully.

"There's not much else here, honestly," Wonshik shrugged. "We have all this cash; we should move on to a new place where we don't have to catch our food," he said, looking at Taekwoon as he spoke. Taekwoon looked away.

"That's okay, I really like it when you cook rabbit for me," Jaehwan hummed, scooting closer to Wonshik when he sat down and running his fingers through Wonshik's hair. 

"It's a labor of love, I guess," Wonshik caved and smiled, leaning away from Jaehwan's hand in embarrassment.

"Oh, a labor of love, I'm swooning!" Jaehwan replied dramatically, putting one hand on his chest and pressing the back of his other hand to his forehead. He pretended to faint, coaxing a fond chuckle out of Wonshik, but blank stares from both Hongbin and Taekwoon. Wonshik reached out and put a hand on the back of Jaehwan's neck before he realized he was the only one laughing. Flustered, he promptly cleared his throat, his cheeks pink.

"Sorry," he dropped his hand from the back of Jaehwan's neck self-consciously. "He's cute."

Jaehwan slouched, pouting at their miserable friends. "You guys, I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little bit. The least you could do is act like I'm funny." 

Taekwoon continued to stare at the darkness in the trees, as if Hakyeon would just step out of the shadows in the trees. Hongbin continued to pick at the loose strings on the hem of his shirt, avoiding everyone else's gaze.

Jaehwan looked back at Wonshik, frowning seriously now. "Do you think we can convince them to move on tomorrow?" he asked Wonshik quietly, leaning in close so only he could hear. 

"I don't know," Wonshik sighed and began to cut the game he caught. "Honestly, I want to find Hakyeon too. It doesn't feel fair to just leave him here if he's lost." 

"I know, but..." Jaehwan began to argue tiredly, exhausted of having this conversation already.

"What if he's looking for us, Jaehwan?" Wonshik stopped what he was doing and looked at him, his expression almost as concerned as Taekwoon's. "He could be hurt. He's probably scared or injured or-" 

The rustling of feet dragging in the underbrush announced the arrival of a newcomer. 

"Oh, I found you guys," Hakyeon said breathlessly, leaning against a tree at the edge of the clearing. Taekwoon was on his feet immediately, rushing towards the weak, pale looking elf and pulling him into a tight hug.

"I looked everywhere," Taekwoon said quietly, holding a dazed Hakyeon. Hakyeon's arms hung limply at his sides until he gently put them on Taekwoon's hips and pushed him back weakly. Hakyeon took a half step back, but didn't give him much space. 

"I went back to town," Hakyeon explained quietly, blinking up at Taekwoon. Taekwoon moved his hands to grasp at Hakyeon's upper arms, just keeping the weak elf upright. Hakyeon brought a hand up and put it on Taekwoon's chest, closing his fist around Taekwoon's shirt and using it to keep steady.

"Why? Why didn't you tell anybody? I was so worried and-" Taekwoon spotted the bloody cloth wrapped around Hakyeon's forearm and the subject of his worries shifted violently. "What happened to you?"

"I healed him," Hakyeon replied. His knees grew weak as he spoke and he fell forward into Taekwoon, bracing himself on the man's shoulders. Taekwoon caught him with his arms around Hakyeon's waist. His muscles stiffened when he saw the second elf over Hakyeon's shoulder. "I'm sorry," Hakyeon continued, trying to get back on his feet again. "There was a lot. We walked all day. I haven't eaten or slept yet."

"You..." Taekwoon began, stopping as Hyuk stepped forward. He whipped his head around to look at Hongbin, who seemed to be in a state of shock.

"Honey, I'm home!" Hyuk grinned, stepping past Taekwoon and Hakyeon and holding his arms out to Hongbin. Hongbin stared at him with his mouth hanging open as if he were looking at a ghost.

"You're alive," Hongbin breathed.

"You know, Hakyeon said the same thing when he- oof!" Hyuk began thoughtfully, but before he could finish his sentence, he had an armful of Hongbin. 

"You're alive, holy shit, you're alive," Hongbin mumbled, his hands grazing over Hyuk's arms and chest and face, touching everything and making sure he wasn't a figment of his imagination. "What... How is this... I saw you die." 

"No you didn't," Hyuk tried to shake his head, but Hongbin was holding his face. Instead, he opted for putting his hand over one of Hongbin's where they rested on his cheeks, thumbs stroking the vallaslin that branched out over his cheekbones.

"What happened then? How could this have..." Hongbin was blinking back tears now, pulling one hand away from Hyuk's face to wipe at his eyes. "Hakyeon brought you back?"

"Well, from the dead, no. But he brought me back here, yes," Hyuk explained vaguely, nervously gesturing with his free hand and avoiding Hongbin's eyes. They were deep and full of emotion and he was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed.

"Then what the hell..." Hongbin tore his eyes away from Hyuk to look at Taekwoon and Hakyeon. "What's going on?"

Hakyeon was leaning his back against Taekwoon's chest now, watching them. "Hyuk told me that they planned it," he spoke slowly, having trouble keeping up with talking and breathing at the same time. "They staged Hyuk's death so he could... could stay behind and make sure the power shifted peacefully. He said that Taekwoon said he would tell everyone."

"Well that didn't happen," Wonshik noted form where he sat by the fire.

"You knew?" Hongbin turned fully towards Taekwoon, who was still avoiding his eyes. "You knew he was alive this whole time and didn't tell me?"

"I didn't..." Taekwoon was at a loss for words. "I couldn't find the right time..."

"Any time would have been the right time, Taekwoon!" Hongbin shifted his weight to advance on Taekwoon, but Hyuk sensed the danger right away and looped an arm around Hongbin's waist to hold him back.

"Hongbin, it's fine, I'm okay," Hyuk said into Hongbin's ear, trying to get him to calm down. Hongbin was adamant about letting Taekwoon know what he thought, his anger boiling over in a way no other emotion ever did. 

"You let me think he was dead for three days!" Hongbin yelled, struggling against Hyuk's grasp.

"Hongbin," Hakyeon tried this time, his voice weary. He sunk down to his knees and into a sitting position at Taekwoon's feet.

"I'm sorry, I know, I knew you would react like this if I told you myself so I..." Taekwoon tried to explain, grasping at straws.

"So you were a coward!" Hongbin bit back at him. "You were a coward and you couldn't tell me! What the fuck is wrong with you, Taekwoon? I love him and I thought he was gone!"

Anger flared in Taekwoon's eyes at the insult. I'm not going to have this conversation with you until you're ready to listen to me. I don't want to talk about this anymore," he growled, then moved past Hakyeon and Jaehwan by the fire and pushed Wonshik out of the way to kneel down in front of the meat. Wonshik watched him pick up the knife and start angrily hacking off edible pieces for them to cook.

"You were kind of an asshole about it," Jaehwan shrugged at Taekwoon. From the other side of him, Wonshik widened hsi eyes at Jaehwan and made the 'cut it out' sign with his hand by his throat. Jaehwan made a face at Wonshik, shrugging. "What? Am I wrong? What was the purpose of watching the power shift anyways? It's not like we could have done anything about it, had it been bad."

"I'm not going to talk about this anymore tonight," Taekwoon scowled, keeping his eyes on the meat in front of him. "I'm going to make Hakyeon something to eat. He's dead on his feet."

"Oh, Hakyeon. It's always Hakyeon, isn't it. It's been Hakyeon all fucking day and night," Hongbin snarled.

Hakyeon rubbed his face wearily. "Please don't fight..." he sighed. 

"Hongbin, cut it out," Hyuk warned at the same time.

Hakyeon was glad for the silence that came afterwards, even though it was tense. He kept his eyes open long enough to see Hongbin cross his arms and turn away from Taekwoon. He guessed that meant they were finished arguing for now. Slowly, his heavy lids closed, he flopped to the side, and promptly lost consciousness.

\--

It was the dead of night, and the fire was dying, but Hyuk and Hongbin sat on the bank of the small sream next to their camp. Behind them laid their sleeping friends. Wonshik, snoring loudly, was cuddled up to Jaehwan, and Taekwoon laid on his back next to where Hakyeon had passed out. Hongbin couldn't keep his hands off Hyuk, tracing his scars in the moonlight as if he still couldn't believe Hyuk was real. He let his fingertips linger over a particularly large one on the back of Hyuk's shoulder and the elf chuckled tiredly.

"My old boss," he said quietly, smiling at Hongbin for a moment before dropping his head forward again. "He was a real hardass. Never let me get away with anything." 

Hongbin frowned, watching Hyuk for a moment before training his eyes on the scar again. It was a bumpy, pale mark where Hyuk had been lashed twice, the scars crossed like an X. Hyuk called the man who had done it his boss, but Hongbin thought the word master was more fitting. Bosses fired their employees when they weren't happy with them. Masters punished their things when they felt they needed to be taught a lesson. In Ferelden, there were bosses, and in Orlais, there were masters that they called bosses. As a farm boy from Ferelden, he had never understood why they didn't ever say what they meant in Orlais anyways.

When Hongbin looked up, he caught Hyuk staring at him again, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you about to get sappy on me?" the elf asked. Hongbin felt a pang of embarrassment at the way he had been clinging to Hyuk since he returned.

"I love you," Hongbin sighed, running his fingers back through Hyuk's hair once, then holding him in place as he leaned in for a kiss. He held his lips against Hyuk's for a moment, just feeling him there, before he pulled away slowly. "I'll never let you get hurt again," he promised quietly. "I'll always have your back."

"Wow," Hyuk snorted, leaning back as if he was impressed. "That was a little sappy." 

Hongbin pushed Hyuk's head away and turned towards the water, acting as if he was upset that Hyuk had brushed him off like that. His reaction made Hyuk laugh, and the sound caused a warm feeling to bubble up in his chest and put a smile on his face. 

"You know what, I lied. I really do hate you," Hongbin laughed in spite of himself, putting his hands over his face to hide his embarrassment. Hyuk wrapped his arms around Hongbin and pulled him into a hug, holding Hongbin against his chest. He pressed a kiss to Hongbin's hair, then rested his chin on Hongbin's head.

"I know. I love you too," he hummed, pleased.

"If you die again, I'll kill you," Hongbin warned, his face pressed against Hyuk's chest, which shook with goofy laughter again even before he finished talking. 

Hyuk just nodded and squeezed him tighter. "Noted. Any other requests?"

"A blowjob," Hongbin answered without skipping a beat. Hyuk laughed loudly, and by the fire, Taekwoon groaned and rolled onto his side, throwing his arm over Hakyeon. Hyuk slapped a hand over his mouth, watching their leader until he had been quiet for long enough that Hyuk was sure he'd fallen back to sleep. 

"You've got to be kidding me," Hyuk whispered, looking back at Hongbin and holding back more laughter.

"It's optional," Hongbin shrugged nonchalantly, but a smirk was growing on his face. "You don't have to." 

After a moment of contemplating whether or not he could give Hongbin a blowjob and not wake everyone up, he made a decision. Based on past experience, it would be a tough one, but he was always up for a challenge. 

"If you wake them up, I get your mat and mine to sleep on for a week," Hyuk challenged with a smile. 

Hongbin moved to sit in his lap, resting his hands on both sides of Hyuk's neck with a grin. Slowly, he leaned forward, so that his lips brushed Hyuk's when he spoke. 

"You're on."


	7. The Threat Remains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprisingly, he got a chuckle out of Taekwoon that was immediately suppressed by his hand over his mouth. Hakyeon watched the scene, almost in awe. Things had been so terrible the past few days, but now they were back to the way they had been. It was like none of that stuff had ever happened.

"Is it really my fault though?" Hongbin asked his frustrated group of friends as they trudged through the woods. "Or is it the fault of the person giving superb head?"

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Hyuk smirked at him. "Your bedroll is mine tonight."

"My bedroll is yours every night, baby," Hongbin winked.

While Hyuk threw his head back in laughter, the rest of the group groaned.

"Get a room, you two," Wonshik shook his head. Beside him, Jaehwan pouted, having been the one to wake up and discover Hyuk's face closer to Hongbin's crotch than he'd ever wanted to see it. 

"That was just gross," he huffed, crossing his arms. "What possessed you to do something like that so close to the rest of us? That kind of thing should be done in private."

"Oh, don't act like you haven't been there," Hongbin rolled his eyes playfully, elbowing Jaehwan in the arm. "Remember that time we-"

"No, that is _not_ the same!" Jaehwan cut him off indignantly. "You _found_ us, and we didn't make it obvious!"

"You just weren't hiding well enough," Hyuk shrugged. Surprisingly, he got a chuckle out of Taekwoon that was immediately suppressed by his hand over his mouth. Hakyeon watched the scene, almost in awe. Things had been so terrible the past few days, but now they were back to the way they had been. It was like none of that stuff had ever happened. Hyuk noticed him watching and pushed on with a wide grin.

"Do you know what happened, Hakyeon? Should we tell him?" he laughed, moving to walk closer to the elf. Wonshik caught Hyuk's arm in one hand and slapped a hand over his mouth with the other.

"Why don't we let it go?" he suggested. He sounded as if he were trying to be intimidating, but it was hard to do when he was red from the base of his neck to the tips of his ears.

"Let's just let it go," Jaehwan nodded, turning his frowning face forward again and marching on through the trees. Hongbin watched him with a satisfied smile, but stayed quiet. 

"So, what is our next destination?" Hakyeon asked, figuring it was about time that they change the subject.

"We're going to the next town, to see what's there," Taekwoon replied. "We're also going further into Ferelden, so that my family can't find us. It's safer here, for now."

"Except it's not," Hongbin cut in. Taekwoon glanced at him, and Hongbin replied to it with an expression of distaste. Hakyeon frowned at the exchange, thinking maybe he had spoken too soon. Things weren't as normal as they seemed.

"Sorry," Hongbin continued, "Taekwoon doesn't actually know what he's talking about. Sure, Ferelden is free of pompous, stuffy Jung Family nobles, but it's also full of bears, thick woods, thieves, bandits, and other people that want to kill you." 

"You act as if there is no danger in Orlais," Taekwoon scowled.

"Sure, people want to kill you in Orlais, but nobody is going to do it themselves," Hongbin rolled his eyes again, this time out of frustration. "Ferelden isn't some safe haven. Take it from someone who grew up here."

"Orlais isn't safe either-"

"Taekwoon, you grew up with a silver spoon stuck up your ass. What did you know about danger before you came to Ferelden?" Hongbin cut him off angrily.

"Do you have any idea how treacherous the Great Game is?" Taekwoon hissed, starting to get agitated. 

" _Cowards_ who grow up in _Orlais_ fight with words. _Men_ who are raised in _Ferelden_ fight with swords, arrows, and axes. Do nobles in Orlais put blood, sweat, and tears into the _party invitations_ they write?" Hongbin spat back at him. The two had stopped walking now, just to spew insults at each other. Hakyeon and Hyuk stopped too, watching helplessly and trying to come up with a way to stop them from fighting again. 

"Parties are an important part of Orlesian culture, and you know that I always hated that kind of thing," Taekwoon narrowed his eyes. "I left because of that, and now my family is trying to kill me to keep up appearances. Wouldn't you consider that-"

Hongbin cut him off again. "Unless you feel like telling me that running away from your family is the same as watching them bleed out and die, I'm going to need you to shut the fuck up." 

"Hongbin," Hyuk warned, taking a step towards him to retain him if necessary. 

"That was uncalled for," Taekwoon also took a step forward. Hakyeon reached and grabbed the back of his shirt, just in case. "What are you really angry about, Hongbin? Why don't you just fucking say it?"

"Well, why couldn't you?" Hongbin yelled at him, throwing his hands out to the side in a wide gesture of frustration. "Why are you such a _coward,_ Taekwoon? No, I know, aren't all Orlesians just raised that way? I'm sorry, it's not your fault, right?" he continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

"I was raised in a noble household, with a responsibility over people like the people in that town," Taekwoon began, fighting to keep his composure.

"They were just peasants, right?" Hongbin spat.

"They were _people,_ with lives and families and jobs to go to. They were the same as those people back in that town," Taekwoon growled back at him. 

"And you killed their leader," Hongbin glared.

Taekwoon tried to take another step towards Hongbin, but Hakyeon held him back, grabbing his wrist this time.

"Taekwoon, please," he begged quietly.

"That's right, Hongbin!" Taekwoon yelled, having finally lost it. "I fucked them over for money, because I'm a selfish bastard! And then I felt guilty about it, because even though I detest Orlais with everything I have, I still feel responsible." 

"You are responsible!" Hongbin yelled back at him. "You're responsible for everything!"

"I'm a terrible person, right? I'm horrible for trying to make sure that those people made it through okay, right? I fucked them over, and then I wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to them, and I'm a fucking hypocrite for it! I know I'm responsible! I'm responsible for all of you, I'm responsible for the futures of the people in that town, I'm responsible for the actions of my family and the people in the place we rule at home! It is all on me and I get it!" Taekwoon gestured towards himself with his free hand, leaning towards Hongbin and just letting it all spill out. "I wouldn't have been able to do anything, even if the situation had been bad! I would have been helpless! It was useless! I get it! I'm sorry!" 

"If you're sorry, then why didn't you fucking tell me?" Hongbin shouted, not letting up even though Taekwoon looked like he was done. The older man stepped back, yanking his hand away from Hakyeon's roughly before rubbing his face.

"Because you're right, Hongbin. Because you're right about everything. It's because I'm a fucking coward," he sighed, pushing his fingers back through his hair and meeting Hongbin's eyes. "Are you happy?"

"Why don't you take a fucking guess," Hongbin snarled, stepping back as well, but still glaring daggers at Taekwooon. 

"What will it take?" Taekwoon sounded exhausted. "I'm tired of this. I don't want to fight anymore. What will it take for you to forgive me?"

"Go fuck yourself, Taekwoon," Hongbin replied, then turned on his heel and stormed ahead to where Wonshik and Jaehwan stood, shock on their faces. Hyuk scowled, clenching his fists before following Hongbin.

"Hey!" Hyuk yelled. Hongbin looked over his shoulder, like he was shocked to hear Hyuk raise his voice. Hyuk couldn't bring himself to care anymore. He had let Hongbin act like a child for too long. When he caught up to Hongbin, he grabbed him under his arm roughly and pulled him off their trail and through the trees so they could talk in private. "Come with me."

"What are you doing?" Hongbin scowled, trying to pull his arm away as he stumbled after Hyuk. When the elf stopped, he swung Hongbin around to stand in front of him, then leaned down and poked a finger into his chest.

"Do you think that's cute?" Hyuk demanded.

"What?" Hongbin asked, blinking at him in confusion. Defensively, he brought his hand up to swat Hyuk's hand away, his frown still set on his face.

"Do you think you're doing me some kind of favor by holding grudges?" Hyuk pressed. Hongbin had seen Hyuk angry, but he'd never seen Hyuk angry at him. This was a first.

"No, Hyuk, I-"

"It's not entirely his fault, Hongbin. I asked to stay behind. I wanted to do it. He needed to clear his conscious. You know those little knick-knacks you keep from your family? It's the same shit."

"What do you mean-"

"I mean that everyone has to do something for themselves sometimes. I helped him. I'm sorry that it happened the way it did, but gods, let it go. He's trying to fix it, and you're just rejecting him. Give him a fucking chance, would you?" Hyuk straightened up, putting his hands on his hips and sighing. "Look, I don't want to yell at you. You're just being emotional and insensitive and you need to cut it out."

"Hyuk, I thought you were dead," Hongbin tried, his brows furrowing in confusion. Hyuk thought he shouldn't be angry? Wasn't Hyuk a victim too?

"But I'm not. I'm here, and I'm not dead. Everything is fine. I'm sorry, but you need to get over it, okay?" Hyuk frowned,then turned and went back to join their friends. Hongbin stood there for a moment in uncertainty, then followed him back. Hyuk continued to walk ahead of him until Hongbin caught up, and even then the elf didn't pay him any mind. Hongbin looked over his shoulder as he walked, spotting Taekwoon and Hakyeon lagging behind. Hakyeon looked like he was consoling Taekwoon, speaking quietly to him with his hand on Taekwoon's back. As Hakyeon's hand fell, Taekwoon picked itup in his own. Hongbin watched their fingers weave together and give each other one quick squeeze before letting go. Frowning, he turned forward again. He didn't think Taekwoon deserved happiness just yet, but maybe it wasn't his call.

\--

The team made camp for the night, in the woods again. Hongbin had accepted his fate long ago that he was sleeping on the ground tonight, but Hyuk was still rubbing it in his face. The tall elf was stretched out on the two stacked mats, sighing loudly and cracking his joints. 

"Wow, this is _so_ comfortable," Hyuk hummed, then looked over at Hongbin and chuckled. Hongbin was doing his best to avoid eye contact. 

"You guys are like children," Wonshik shook his head, unable to keep himself from laughing at them. Children or not, they were still funny.

"What do you mean?" Hyuk laughed. "I'm being an adult about this. I won a bet, and now I'm reaping the benefits. How is that childish?"

"It's because you're bragging," Hongbin answered, smiling at him in amusement.

"Bragging?" Hyuk looked around the group, all eyes trained on him. "I think you're all crazy."

Hyuk's companions shook their heads at him, then they all set up camp and settled down for the night. When the darkness came, it was blinding. They hadn't been able to find a clearing for the night, so the branches above them blocked out the light of the moon. The only light they were left was the glow of the dying embers of the remains of their fire as they all fell asleep. No one had trouble achieving unconsciousness, safe for Hongbin, and it wasn't because he had given his bedroll to Hyuk.

Hongbin sat in front of the fire, coaxing it back to life with a couple sticks so that he could let it burn for a little while longer. Laid out on the ground were his belongings from his old life, the things he used to remember the people he used to love. His necklace, with his parents' rings on it, next to a folded letter about his brother's dull school life, and a crumpled up recipe for cinnamon bread that he would never use. He had a way to remember them. They were with him, even though their presence wasn't physical. But his collection wasn't complete. 

He had realized, when he thought Hyuk was gone, that he had nothing to remember him by. Twice in his life he had lost someone he loved, but the second time, he didn't have anything of theirs. It was selfish of him, but he wanted something. If he were ever to lose Hyuk permanently, he needed something to hold onto him with. Even if Hyuk had died, Hongbin didn't think he could ever let him go. He was too important. 

Hyuk and the others had been asleep for hours. Hongbin had offered to take first watch, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep anyways. He hadn't planned on waking anyone else up, but he couldn't sit there and stew in his thoughts anymore. He turned and crawled over to where Hyuk slept, leaning over him and shaking his shoulder gently. 

"Hyuk," he whispered, watching Hyuk's face for signs of consciousness. "Hey, are you up?"

Hyuk groaned and rolled onto his back, sprawling out across the mat and squinting up at Hongbin. Slowly, he blinked up at Hongbin, then raised one hand and stroked the back of Hongbin's hair once just to show that he was listening.

"Can I... talk to you about something?" Hongbin asked quietly.

Hyuk gradually realized the fire had come back to life, and in the light it cast, he saw the belongings of Hongbin's family laid out on the ground. Now that he had a little bit of context, he realized this was probably going to be a serious situation. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and pulling his legs in to sit cross-legged on his mat. 

"Yeah, baby, what's up?" he asked groggily, still trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes.

"This is going to sound stupid," Hongbin began. Hyuk knewthis game. Hongbin would want to talk about how he felt, and when he finally got the courage to say something, he would start only to clam up again. 

"Tell me," Hyuk replied immediately, his voice quiet. He wasn't going to let Hongbin back down from this again. "Is it about your family?"

"No," Hongbin answered quickly, then looked over his shoulder at his things and sighed. "A little bit."

"Tell me what's wrong, Hongbin," Hyuk tried again, watching Hongbin's eyes as they shifted around and avoided him.

"I don't... um, actually, I'm fine. I'm sorry for waking you up, you can go back to sleep," Hongbin said nervously, leaning back away from Hyuk and wrapping his arms around himself. 

Hyuk reached out a hand and placed it on the side of Hongbin's neck, then leaned forward and pressed their lips together. He kissed Hongbin, until he felt Hongbin kissing him back. Hooking one arm around Hongbin's waist, he pulled the man closer, smiling into his lips when he felt Hongbin's arms rest on his shoulders, and Hongbin's fingers in his hair. He waited until Hongbin relaxed in his arms, then a little longer because he liked Hongbin's lips, before he pulled away. 

"Hongbin," Hyuk said quietly, then pressed one last meaningful kiss to his lips before speaking again. "You can tell me anything." 

"I want something to remember you by," Hongbin confessed softly, bowing his head to avoid Hyuk's gaze, even though they were so close now. 

"Are you going somewhere?" Hyuk asked gently, stroking the back of his head with one hand. 

"No, but... you might be," Hongbin replied. He paused, but Hyuk waited patiently for him to continue. "I just... I thought you died. I know what you're going to say. You're alive, and I should let it go, but I didn't have anything, any like..." Hongbin sat up and leaned back again, gesturing with his hands. "I didn't have any... anything Hyuk."

"You have me," Hyuk watched his face carefully, then looked down at himself. He didn't have anything to give Hongbin. The only things that he owned were the weapons that he fought with, the clothes on his back, and the colorful bracelet Hongbin had given him from that town in Orlais. 

"But what if I lose you?" Hongbin asked, his voice thick with the tears that made his eyes glossy. He sat there in a rare bout of emotion, bearing his heart to Hyuk, and Hyuk recognized it.

"You'll never get rid of me," Hyuk smiled at him, taking his hand and pulling him in again. Instead of kissing him, this time he pulled Hongbin onto his mat with him. He laid down and hugged Hongbin against his body.

"I thought you weren't going to share," Hongbin sniffled, wiping his eyes. 

"I'll make an acception for you," Hyuk replied, getting comfortable. He threw a leg over Hongbin's hip and made him chuckle.

"I have to be on watch," Hongbin protested, putting his hands on Hyuk's chest as if he was going to push him away.

"We can stay up together," Hyuk replied.

"Like this?" Hongbin chuckled quietly, throwing an arm over Hyuk's side.

Hyuk nodded. "Like this."

They laid quietly for a moment before Hongbin thought of something he'd been meaning to ask.

"Oh, Hyuk? One more thing."

"Are you going to tell me you love me?" Hyuk teased.

"Don't get a big head," Hongbin smirked at him, then shook his head. "I just want to know... why you stayed back. I know you thought Taekwoon was going to tell us all that you weren't really dead, but why did you agree to do that? There was no point to it. It was just to feed his stupid ego."

"Don't be like that," Hyuk sighed, rolling onto his back and looking up at the darkness of the trees. Hongbin frowned and propped himself up on an elbow, watching Hyuk carefully.

"Why? Did you have a reason?" Hongbin asked.

"I did, but I didn't tell anybody, and it doesn't matter now," Hyuk shrugged.

"Of course it matters, stupid," Hongbin nudged his side. "What is it?"

"I just... you know, I grew up in Orlais. I was a servant, but we weren't people, not to them. I had this really close friend, she was like a sister, and we always talked about getting out together. We were always telling stories about how we'd run away and explore the world or some stupid bullshit like that. She was older than I was, so she always took the brunt of that old man's fury when I did dumb shit. She had so many scars, Hongbin..." Hyuk put his hands over his face for a moment, then pushed them back through his hair with a groan. "When I left, she was so sick. She was practically on her deathbed. She was the only family that I had and I left her there..."

"Does she have something to do with why you stayed?" Hongbin prompted softly.

"I thought I saw her. Just in passing, I thought I caught a glimpse of her. An elf in Ferelden? It's uncommon, but maybe no so uncommon so close to the Orlesian border... I didn't see her face, just a long black ponytail and scars and I was so sure..." Hyuk took a moment, then gave Hongbin a bittersweet smile. "Of course it wasn't her. I was stupid to think that I had found her. She probably died after I abandoned her. I should just accept it, right?"

Hongbin pursed his lips, then sighed and laid down next to Hyuk, resting his head on Hyuk's upper arm. 

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Hongbin replied quietly. "We could keep a lookout for her. Tall, scarred elf. I'll put it in the archives. If I see one, I'll let you know."

Hyuk wiped his teary eyes with his free hand and nodded. "I love you."

"Yeah, yeah, you big sap," Hongbin shook his head. "Kick Hakyeon and wake him up. He'll stay up if you ask him to."

"That's mean," Hyuk chuckled, shaking his head."

"What? That's just how he is! I know what you're thinking, and it's not taking advantage of him if that's just how he is," Hongbin argued.

"Keep your voice down," Hyuk shushed him. "And pick up your stuff. I'll wake Hakyeon up."

Hyuk sat up, forcing Hongbin up as well. While Hongbin tucked away his letter and his recipe, Hyuk shuffled over to Hakyeon's bedroll and woke him up. Hongbin put on the necklace with his parents' rings on it and tucked the rings inside his shirt, watching Hyuk quietly ask Hakyeon to cover watck. Hakyeon nodded, sitting up slowly and rubbing his eyes.

"Go to sleep," Hakyeon insisted, stifling a yawn with his hand. "I'll watch; you can both get some rest."

"You're the best," Hyuk gave Hakyeon an enthusiastic thumbs up, then laid back down on his bedroll with Hongbin. They repositioned themselves, Hyuk's head on Hongbin's chest, with Hyuk's long, lanky body curled up against Hongbin's. Hongbin traced circles into Hyuk's ribs until the elf fell asleep, then passed out himself.

\--

When Taekwoon woke up, dawn was breaking. He blinked sleep out of his eyes, squinting up at the treetops, then turned his head to see the dead fire. On the other side of the fire pit laid Hyuk and Hongbin, Hyuk with his arms and legs sprawled out and Hongbin curled up on whatever part of the bedroll Hyuk had left him.

He sat up slowly, yawning and looking around to gain his bearings. He wondered, for a moment, who was on watch if Hongbin was asleep, until he saw Hakyeon. Hakyeon wasn't keeping watch, per se, but he looked like he'd put a valiant effort into it. The poor elf was sitting up in front of the fire pit, a stick resting in his lap, on top of the unfurled fingers of the hand he must have been using to hold it. The end was burnt, as if he had been poking at the embers. Best of all, his head was hung forward, and his back hunched, his ribs expanding and deflating with the steady flow of his breathing. How could someone fall asleep like that?

Quietly, Taekwoon stood up, an amused smile on his face as he approached Hakyeon. He knelt down next to the elf, then carefully laid him down on the ground. The movement awoke Hakyeon, and the elf blinked his eyes open tiredly, his brows furrowing a bit until he recognized the figure above him. 

"Oh, Taekwoon..." Hakyeon breathed, bringing his hands up to wipe his eyes. "How long was I asleep? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay," Taekwoon whispered, smiling now at Hakyeon's cute, sleepy state. "Just go back to sleep." 

"Are you sure?" Hakyeon asked, sitting up and looking around with squinted eyes. "It's light out, should we wake everyone up...?"

"No," Taekwoon insisted, putting one hand on Hakyeon's shoulder and using the other to gesture towards his bedroll. "Just go back to sleep. I'll wake everyone up when I want to leave."

Hakyeon watched him through narrowed eyes for a moment, and Taekwoon fought the urge to laugh. There was a weird, fluttery feeling in his chest, but he wasn't worried about what it meant. He watched Hakyeon turn and crawl towards the bedroll, then flop down on it. He whined when he landed, then shifted, reached under the thin cushion, and pulled out a stone. 

"Dumb rock..." Hakyeon mumbled, throwing it into the bushes before adjusting his position on the mat. Taekwoon put a hand over his widening smile. After Hakyeon squirmed enough and gotten settled, his breathing evened out and he fell asleep again. Satisfied, Taekwoon got up and left to go catch something to eat.

\--

Jaehwan was cold, but that alone confused him. He was never cold. All around him was darkness, so thick that he couldn't see his own hand held out in front of him. Both of these things were easily fixable. He could create warmth and light with just sheer will. He was a mage, of course, it was what he did. Slowly he extended his fingers out and bared his palm, willing the flames to come to life. Nothing happened.

Frowning, he tried it again and came up short once more. He swallowed the panic that began to knot in his throat as he looked around, wiping his palms on his pants. He couldn't do it? No, he had always been able to do it. Wonshik had always told him how special it was. His friends from the Circle had praised him for how easily it came to him. His family had abandoned him for his freak talent. 

They left him. He never heard from them again. He couldn't remember their faces. They probably looked upon the things he had left there with disdain and disgust. No, they probably didn't remember him either. He was nothing to them.

"No," Jaehwan whispered to himself, trying to ground himself. "I have a family."

Suddenly, a warm light came to life, small and far away. Jaehwan began to walk towards it, finding the air so thick it was like he was wading through water. Determined, he pushed on, thinking of his family. 

"What family?" the voice in his mind spoke aloud, booming through the thick air. Jaehwan almost froze when he recognized the speaker. 

"Wonshik?" he called, slowing to a stop and looking around. His hands were shaking now, the panic having worked its way into his very bones. "Wonshik, where are you?"

"Who is your family, Jaehwan? You have no one," Wonshik's voice went on. "Hyuk is dead. Hongbin hates all of you. Taekwoon's brother is going to find him and kill him."

"Stop it," Jaehwan took a step back, bumping right into a solid wall that hadn't been there before. "Wonshik, please help me!" 

"Hakyeon doesn't know you. Hakyeon doesn't want you. What makes you think he'll stay when Taekwoon dies and Hongbin leaves you behind?"

Jaehwan blinked tears from his eyes, watching the light he had been walking towards. It was traveling towardshim, and as it got closer, the voice got louder. He pressed his palms over his ears, but it didn't even muffle the sound.

"Why are you doing this?" Jaehwan cried, shivering and cowering against the wall. "Don't I have you?"

"Me?" Wonshik's laugh was so loud that it rattled his bones. The light moved rapidly closer, but there was nothing Jaehwan could do but listen to Wonshik tear him down.

"I have never loved you," Wonshik spat, and then the light was upon him, and it was over.

Jaehwan gasped as he woke, his eyes opening quickly to see Taekwoon silently roasting meat over the fire. Jaehwan was breathing hard, sweat making his shirt damp, but he made an effort to pull himself together as quickly as possible. When he rolled onto his back, he realized Wonshik wasn't next to him.

_He's finally left you,_ the voice in his mind suggested.

Jaehwan shook his head and wiped his eyes with his knuckle, then rested his forearm over them. _Calm down,_ he told himself. _He probably just went to go take a piss, or he split up with Taekwoon while hunting, or-_

"Morning, Jaehwan," Wonshik's voice interrupted his thoughts, and Jaehwan flinched so hard that he was sure he wouldn't be able to hide it. "I got some cold water from the stream," Wonshik continued, sounding chipper. It wasn't the same voice from his dream. It never was."

Jaehwan nodded and sat up, still trying to clear his head from his nightmare. He needed to pull himself together. Their little family was healing still. They needed him to be strong. Before he could thank Wonshik for the water, the man spoke again.

"Are you doing okay?" Wonshik asked, sounding concerned as he handed over Jaehwan's water flask. "You've been acting kind of weird lately."

Jaehwan had been having nightmares every night since Hyuk's "death" and he hadn't told anybody. No one needed to know. He could take care of himself and still help everyone else work out their problems. 

"I'm fine," he lied with a smile on his face. He knew Wonshik wouldn't buy it, but he would let it go, and that was all that Jaehwan needed. As he took his water from Wonshik, he leaned over and kissed his cheek. That action alone caused Wonshik to blush and chuckle and drop the subject. Jaehwan mentally patted himself on the back for being a genius. "Thanks for the water, love," he chimed.

"Of course," Wonshik nodded. "The stream is really cold. Hongbin said we'd probably find another town in a day or two, so then we can spend some money and have a bed again. Won't that be nice?"

"Sounds amazing, honestly. I miss sleeping on a mattress," Jaehwan sighed. "Plus, we have all this cash... You can't spend money in the woods."

"That's what I'm saying," Hongbin cut in with a chuckle. He was sitting next to his and Hyuk's rolled up bedrolls, but Jaehwan couldn't see Hyuk anywhere.

"Hey, where's Hyuk?" he asked, cocking his head a bit.

"He went out in the woods to find something. I don't know what he needed, but he said he should be back soon," Hongbin explained, shrugging. 

Behind Taekwoon, Hakyeon sat up on the mat he was sleeping on. Taekwoon looked over his shoulder at him and smiled, chuckling at the bits of Hakyeon's hair that were stuck straight up from sleeping on them. He reached out and brushed his fingers through Hakyeon's hair, the sleepy elf rubbing his eyes and leaning into his hand. Jaehwan looked at Hongbin and nodded at the pair with a look of question on his face. Hongbin glanced over at them, then shook his head and got up to busy himself with filling up his water flask at the stream. Jaehwan leaned over to Wonshik instead. 

"What's all that about?" he whispered, pointing a thumb over at Taekwoon and Hakyeon. Hakyeon had scooted forward to sit next to Taekwoon at the fire and Taekwoon was quietly reassuring him that he hadn't slept in too late.

"I don't know," Wonshik chuckled, watching them for a couple seconds before looking back at Jaehwan. "It's new to see Taekwoon acting like that."

"It's kind of nice," Jaehwan hummed. Maybe if they could support each other, Hakyeon could convince Hongbin to talk to Taekwoon and sort things out. He made a mental note to bring it up later.

The six of them ate breakfast, broke down camp, and moved on. They walked for the day until Hyuk began to complain that his feet were going to fall off. When Taekwoon finally got tired of it, he dropped his pack and raised an eyebrow at Hyuk.

"Fine, we're done, okay?" he frowned. 

"You're the best," Hyuk laughed, then plopped down and sprawled out on the ground. Taekwoon sighed.

"Wonshik, let's go hunting. You can all set up here." 

When Taekwoon and Wonshik had left with their weapons and Hongbin and Jaehwan had gone to collect firewood, Hakyeno walked over to Hyuk and sat down next to him. The elf was whittling away at a small piece of wood with a knife, lounging against his rolled up bedroll. 

"Hey," Hakyeon said, looking down at Hyuk, who turned his head to give Hakyeon his attention.

"What can I do for you?" Hyuk hummed, tucking the wood into his pocket and sheathing his knife. 

"I want..." Hakyeon pursed his lips in thought, then continued. "I want to help Taekwoon and Hongbin make up."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Hyuk asked.

"I don't know... is there a way to make them talk without screaming at each other?"

Hyuk thought for a moment, lloking up at the treetops. "With Hongbin, it's weird. I don't want to be an asshole, but he's kind of emotionally constipated. He gets angry quickly, but he has a hard time saying he's sorry. It's hard to get him to admit hings. Taekwoon is prideful like that sometimes, too, but Taekwoon has already apologized. We're just waiting on Hongbin now."

"But, even if Hongbin apologizes, will things really go back to normal?" Hakyeon wondered.

"Well, when Hongbin says something, he means it. He'll apologize and act normally even if he doesn't feel that way just yet," Hyuk explained. "So if we can get him to apologize, it'll fix things."

"How do we do that?" Hakyeon sighed, leaning his head on his hand.

"Usually, I have to wait for him to say things first, and even with me encouraging him, it takes a long time. But maybe if we push them into having a conversation..." Hyuk brought his hand up and scratched his head as he thought. 

"I think something like that could work..." Hakyeon nodded. "Let's try to bring it up and just... Let them take over the conversation, you know?"

Hyuk nodded as well. "Sounds like a plan."

\--

Later, the six of them sat around the fire, chewing on their dinner quietly. Hyuk took a bite of his meat, then raised an eyebrow at Hakyeon, who nodded.

"So, Hongbin," Hakyeon said mildly, looking down at his food. "How are you lately?"

Hongbin frowned, confused as to why Hakyeon would be asking a question like that, but he replied. "I'm fine. Why?"

"You've just seemed like you've been a little frustrated with some of us is all," Hakyeon shrugged.

"Yeah, I think you might owe someone an apology," Hyuk joined in. Taekwoon looked at Hyuk with an expression that said, _what are you doing?_ Hyuk didn't offer any form of an answer, but when Taekwoon turned to Hakyeon, the elf had to fight not to meet his eyes.

"I don't know if that's any of your business," Hongbin huffed, then took another bite of his food. 

"It's all of our business. We're a family." Wonshik spoke up. In his effort to avoid Taekwoon's gaze, Hakyeon spotted Jaehwan stiffen for a moment. The mage took a second to close his eyes, breathe deeply, and force himself to relax. Hakyeon opened his mouth to ask Jaehwan what was wrong, but Hongbin spoke first and brought his attention back to the matter at hand.

"What, would it make you happy to see me to apologize to Taekwoon?" Hongbin asked sarcastically, looking up from his food and giving Wonshik an unimpressed look.

"Yes," Hakyeon, Hyuk, and Wonshik all replied in unison. The response surprised Hongbin, and it took a moment for him to speak again.

"Fine," Hongbin sighed, then looked at Taekwoon. "Taekwoon, I'm sorry for being a self-centered dick. I won't yell at you for being a self-centered dick anymore."

"I'm sorry too," Taekwoon replied quietly. Wonshik cleared his throat loudly, giving Hongbin a meaningful look to urge him on. 

"And I'm... sorry, I guess, for being a handful, and losing my shit when I thought Hyuk was dead, and placing blame, and..." Hongbin scratched the back of his head, looking down at his lap as his confidence ran out. "And I'm sorry for trying to kill you, Hakyeon."

"Oh," Hakyeon looked surprised, unsure of what to say for a moment. "No, it's um, it's okay. It's in the past now."

There was a moment of heavy silence before Jaehwan broke it. "Yay!" he cheered, throwing his hands in the air. "We're all one big happy family again!"

Wonshik chuckled at him and stroked the back of his neck with one hand, shaking his head. Hyuk laughed, leaning into Hongbin, who allowed himself to smile.

"It's about time," Hakyeon sighed. "Things were so tense."

"Well, why don't you all get some sleep early so we can hit the road and make it to town tomorrow?" Wonshik suggested. "I'll stay up and keep watch." 

Jaehwan swallowed nervously as everyone began to get ready for bed. He slowly laid down on his own bedroll, turning his back to the fire. Going to sleep would just result in another nightmare, but he couldn't do anything about that. Maybe tonight he'd have good dreams. Yeah, that's right, stay positive. He sighed as he closed his eyes, curled up tightly, and slipped into sleep.

When Jaehwan opened his eyes, he was in his old Circle. He had blocked out this part of his memory. The things he remembered from the Kirkwall Circle were things he never wished to look back on. He stood in the courtyard, surrounded by Templars and the Tranquil. Jaehwan shook his head in an attempt to shake the thoughts from his head, took a couple steps back, then turned and ran. He ran past the statues of slaves, past the demons and the abominations and the blood mages, straight out of the courtyard. 

On the other side of the big wooden doors was their camp. Upon further examination, there were tents up. The tents they didn't have anymore.

_Orlais. Their camp in Orlais had tents. That was the night Wonshik almost died. The night that Sukcheol had almost-_

"Our poor Taekwoon, killed by bandits in the woods!" 

Jaehwan whipped his head around at the sound of Sukcheol's yell, just in time to see the man drive a knife into Taekwoon's throat. Jaehwan slapped both hands over his mouth, wide eyes watching Taekwoon fall, blood soaking his neck and the collar of his shirt. 

"Taekwoon," Jaehwan cried, "Maker, Taekwoon..."

Suddenly, Sukcheol was gone, leaving Taekwoon's dead body and the sounds of a struggle behind him. Jaehwan turned quickly once again to see a clearing containing Hongbin and Hakyeon.

"It's your fault he's dead!" Hongbin screamed, sitting on top of Hakyeon with his hand wrapped tightly around Hakyeon's neck. Hakyeon tried to pry his fingers away, but he was growing weaker by the second, and unable to get a grip on Hongbin's hand. 

"Please," Hakyeon choked. "I know. I'm sorry."

"It's not enough!" Hongbin yelled, using his free hand to sink his dagger into Hakyeon's gut. He didn't stop until the hilt touched Hakyeon's skin, then roughly twisted the blade. The elf gasped out, too out of breath to scream. When Hongbin yanked it out, Jaehwan watched the blood drip from the tip of the knife. The man got up, throwing the knife down into the dirt next to Hakyeon, before turning and walking into the woods. Hakyeon turned his head to Jaehwan, one hand over the growing bloodstain on his shirt, the other weakly reaching out to him.

"Jaehwan..." he groaned, tears falling from his eyes. "Help me..."

"Jaehwan," came another voice.

_Wonshik._

Jaehwan turned to see Wonshik running towards him, looking frantic.

"Jaehwan, you're panicking. You have to calm down," Wonshik said, putting his hands on Jaehwan's upper arms to ground him. 

"I can't," Jaehwan gasped. He hadn't realized he was short of breath. How long had it been like this? He looked down at Wonshik's body, realizing their was an arrow in his chest. "Wonshik, oh my god, Wonshik."

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Wonshik insisted.

"Wonshik, they're all dead, you're going to die, please don't-" Jaehwan choked back a sob, his hands shaking. They were on fire. His hands were on fire and he couldn't stop it. He couldn't stop any of it.

"Calm down, Jaehwan," Wonshik tried again."It's okay, everyone's okay." 

"No," Jaehwan breathed, watching the fire climb up his arms. "No, I'm killing you." 

The scene in front of Jaehwan blurred. Wonshik fell away, and suddenly everything was bright. The fire roared, and above that, he could hear the terrified yells of his friends.

"Wonshik, stop!" Hakyeon yelled. "It's dangerous!"

"The trees are catching fire!" came a call from Hongbin.

Jaehwan couldn't see anything, just bright orange and blue. The only feeling he registered was the panic and the heat. Through the flames came a tall figure. Jaehwan didn't recognize him until he dropped the blanket he was holding around his torso to the ground.

"Jaehwan," Wonshik said, his voice urgent. He rushed over and dropped to his knees next to Jaehwan. "Jaehwan, it's okay, I'm here. I need you to calm down."

"Wonshik,"Jaehwan breathed, his eyes welling up with tears again. "I'm killing you."

"No," Wonshik shook his head. "Please. It's okay. I'm here with you, Jaehwan."

"I'm killing you," Jaehwan curled in on himself, pulling his knees to his chest and putting his hands over his ducked head. "I don't want to be alone."

"You're not. I'm here. Jaehwan, I'm here with you," Wonshik insisted, putting a hand on Jaehwan's arms. His fingers were cool against Jaehwan's burning skin. "I'm here, you're not alone, we're all here, you're never alone, we're safe," Wonshik continued, wrapping his hands around Jaehwan's wrists and pulling them away from his head gently. Slowly, the roaring fire around him began to die. Jaehwan looked up at Wonshik with teary eyes and Wonshik took that chance to put his hands on Jaehwan's cheeks.

"I'm here with you," Wonshik repeated. "You're never alone. I love you."

"I was scared... the nightmares... they always..." Jaehwan tried, until his voice cracked and he broke down in tears. The fire around them became nothing but embers as Jaehwan cried in Wonshik's arms. 

Hongbin sat on Hyuk's shoulders, trying to smother the flames that had caught on the leaves of the trees, and Taekwoon and Hakyeon stomped out and drowned any burning grass or underbrush. Wonshik sat on the ground with Jaehwan in his arms, who was a sobbing mess.

"Why didn't you tell me you were having nightmares...?" Wonshik asked Jaehwan, nosing into his hair.

"I didn't want to make you worried," Jaehwan sniffled in reply. "Everyone has been so tense lately. I didn't want to add another thing to your list."

"I love you," Wonshik repeated, kissing Jaehwan's head softly. Jaehwan whined pitifully, then sat up, wiping his tears away and nodding. 

"I know. I'm sorry." He bit his lip, trying to pull himself together, then looked up at Wonshik. "I love you too. I love all of you. I don't want us to fall apart."

"What, you think just because me and Taekwoon have a little fight, we're all going to fall apart?" Hongbin asked as Hyuk set him down.

"Taekwoon and I," Taekwoon corrected quietly. Hongbin rolled his eyes.

"I-I don't know if I would classify that as a little fight..." Jaehwan said, smiling a little despite his tears. 

"It was small. Miniscule. Everything is better now," Hongbin reassured him. "Trust me."

"Okay," Jaehwan nodded, wiping his nose. Wonshik smiled and leaned forward, holding the back of Jaehwan's neck as he kissed his forehead.

"You said it was nightmares?" Hakyeon piped up. "You should have said something! I can whip up something for nightmares quicker than you think. It's almost dawn now, so I don't know if you want to try to sleep again, but just catch me before you sleep again and I'll make something for you, okay?"

"Thank you," Jaehwan nodded again. "I'm sorry I never said anything."

"It's okay. Everything is okay now," Wonshik replied, petting his hair.

Hyuk sighed, watching them with a little smile before turning to Hongbin.

"Hey," he said, looping an arm around Hongbin's shoulders and pulling him in. "I have something for you."

"What?" Hongbin looked up at him in confusion. Hyuk pulled the finished carving out of his pocket, picked up Hongbin's hand, and placed it into his palm.

"I carved a halla. It's for you. From me. To remember me by." Hyuk smiled, kissing his temple. 

"Hyuk, this is..." Hongbin began, a grin breaking out on his face.

"Just in case you lose me, which you won't," Hyuk hummed. "But I guess it's always good to be safe."

"Yeah," Hongbin replied, examining the little wooden figurine with a smile. "Better safe than sorry, right? What a cute little stag."

"Oh no it's a, um," Hyuk cut in, taking it from Hongbin and using his thumb to wipe wood shavings off some of the rougher bits of the carving. "It's a halla."

"A halla?" Hongbin repeated, looking from the carving to Hyuk's face. 

"Yeah, they're like... elf deer," Hyuk tried to explain, feeling kind of embarrassed that Hongbin didn't get it right away.

"So a stag."

"No, it's like," Hyuk paused for a moment to figure out how to say what he was trying to say, then continued. "Halla are like deer, but bigger, and they kinda represent... well, okay, in elven culture, the halla represend unity. We use them to haul our shit around, but it's a two-way relationship. We don't catch them and keep them, they come to us. It's like a friendship of sorts. Even when we're not using them, they still hang around and play with our children or sleep in our camps."

"So, what you're saying is..." Hongbin began, as if he was trying to understand, but Hyuk finished for him.

"Is that it's for unity. Because I'm going to be with you, even when I'm not," he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervoulsy. "It looks fuckin' rad, right?"

Hongbin slowly broke out into a grin, then let out a chuckle at Hyuk's comment as he took the wooden halla back.

"Yes. It looks so rad," he nodded, reaching up with his free hand to grasp the back of Hyuk's neck and kiss him. Hyuk smiled into his mouth, wrapping his arms around Hongbin's waist. After a moment, Hongbin reluctantly pulled away, grinning up at Hyuk. "Thank you so much. I'm so lucky to have you."

"And?" Hyuk prompted, returning Hongbin's grin with a bit of playful mischief.

"And I love you, you little-" Hongbin was cut off as Hyuk grabbed his cheeks in both of his hands and kissed him again. The kiss was happier this time, complete with Hyuk squishing in Hongbin's cheeks and nipping at his bottom lip. Hongbin played along, happy that he made Hyuk happy, until he heard a whistle from behind them.

"Get a room!" Wonshik laughed. In reply, Hyuk reached down and grabbed a handful of Hongbin's ass, using his other hand to flip Wonshik off. Hongbin broke the kiss with his own laugh, throwing his head back and swatting Hyuk's hand away from his butt. Hakyeon watched them with a smile. They were back to the way they had been; he was sure this time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone just......... loves each other........ so much  
> this chapter turned out really long it also took me 2000 years to write so i'm sorry i hope you liked it!!!


	8. The Wrath of Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Please," Hakyeon froze as his sister pleaded, the image of the halla flickering with one of her in her blood stained white dress, kneeling in front of him. He stared, wide eyed, as she reached out and touched his cheek.
> 
> "Please, Hakyeon. He'll kill them all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to uh,,, apologize for leaving this fic for so long. I didn't grow out of vixx or dragon age i was just struggling with a lot of things like life and depression and things of the like but,,, I lived! yay! anyways i don't have a lot of time on my hands so i'm not sure when i'll have this done but just know that i have the rest of it planned out, it'll be about 11 chapters, i'll have to change the rating from t to m for the nasties and some gore, and i'll finish it when i find the time and motivation to do so. anyways please enjoy this chapter thanks ily mwah

Hakyeon stood in the great arching doorway, looking out to the courtyard and taking in the celebration with a fond smile. There was music being played by a band in one corner, elves mingling, the walls around them looking new and sturdy. Stalls were set up in aisles, his family, friends, and neighbors sharing their crafts with each other. He could feel the happiness in the air as the spring breeze ruffled his hair, bringing with it the smell of just-bloomed crystal grace and dawn lotus. Children ran past him, bumping into his knees and stumbling on their way past. 

"Sorry, Prince," one of them giggled over her shoulder.

_Prince._ He was home.

"The anniversary of the Long Walk is my favorite time of year," Chimed a voice from behind him. Hakyeon turned around and saw his mother, followed closely by his sister. Two tall, slender women, built just like him, dressed in white and gold. The sight of them made his heart warm. For some reason, he felt like it had been too long since he had seen their faces.

"Hakyeon," his sister hummed, reaching for his hands. "Let's go find some of those sweets you like so much. I overheard the elders saying they were making extra for you."

His mother laughed, the sound like music to Hakyeon's ears. "They always baby you," she smiled, "but you'll be a man soon."

Past the warmth of his mother and sister, he heard someone in the band play a note out of place. It was shrill and chilling, but nothing compared to the warm breeze, the smell of flowers and sweets, and the sound of children laughing.

"Your father is here," Hakyeon's mother said. Something in her voice was off as well. Hakyeon looked over his shoulder to see the man making his way through the crowd to them, smile likes crinkling the skin next to his eyes as he waved to them. Hakyeon almost raised his hand and pulled in a breath to greet him, but his sister tugged his wrists to gather his attention again.

"You have to stop him."

Hakyeon frowned in confusion, looking back at her in question. As he did, the courtyard grew dark, the shiny new walls suddenly crumbling, covered with vines and moss. There was blood smeared on her skin, tainting the gold around her neck and the simple white dress she wore. It was coming from a gash in her chest, and Hakyeon couldn't tear his eyes away from it, horror freezing him in place.

"Hakyeon, I know you're scared. Please. Stop him. For us."

He tore his eyes away from the wound in her chest, back up to her face, fear and horror raising from his stomach to form a knot in his throat.

"I-" he tried to speak, but it seemed like his tongue was stuck. This wasn't supposed to happen. Everything had been fine a moment ago.

"He's killing us. Please," she pleaded one last time, before the wind blew her away like smoke. He shivered. Where the breeze had once brought warmth and the smell of spring, now it was cold, and it smelled like rotting flesh. The courtyard was eerily empty.

"Father...?"

Hakyeon called out, testing the waters. He didn't know what to expect. Confused and scared, he cautiously made his way into the temple. He wandered until he found the sanctuary, the place where his father used to hash out royal matters with his advisers and the elders. Cowering in the tiny entrance of the colossal room, he saw his father. The man sat wearily in his throne, his hands covered in blood, sighing as he turned over a heart in his hands. At his feet laid Hakyeon's mother, his sister, the elders, the children. It seemed like the list of people grew until the bodies made a pile higher than the ceiling.

All of a sudden, the mood shifted once more. There was a rush of air, as if he was being sped across the room, until he stood in front of the throne holding his father's deteriorated body. His hands were detached at the wrists, his head resting in his lap, his eyes gone. Hakyeon recognized the knife that pierced his heart. With trembling hands, he reached forward, and as he yanked it out, there was a blinding flash of green light. His father stood before him, gruesome and disgusting, but alive. Hakyeon stumbled back, losing his balance to fall backwards into a crowd of soldiers.

It was so hard to breathe. They pushed in on him from all sides, as if they were trying to smother him. Reaching out, Hakyeon called out for his mother, his sister, anyone who might be able to help him.

"Our father is alive once more."

Everything fell away, leaving Hakyeon gasping for breath, kneeling in the shallow pool of water that time and weather damage had brought to their once great sanctuary. He looked up to meet the eyes of the owner of his sister's voice, a great white halla, with it's antlers twisted and cured around each other like vines. The animal shook it's head and stomped a hoof in the water, splashing Hakyeon's face.

"I'm showing this to you because you're the only one who can stop him," the halla continued. "Return to Halamshiral and finish what you began."

"Finish what I- but I don't-" Hakyeon tried, reaching towards the halla, trying to draw his sister out again.

"Please," Hakyeon froze as his sister pleaded, the image of the halla flickering with the one of her in her blood stained white dress, kneeling in front of him. He stared, wide eyed, as she reached out and touched his cheek. 

"Please, Hakyeon. He'll kill them all."

\--

Hakyeon gasped as he woke up, sitting up so fast he made himself dizzy. It was barely dawn, so no one was awake but Wonshik, who had taken last watch.

"You okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the elf.

"I had a vision," Hakyeon replied breathlessly.

"A what?" Wonshik frowned in confusion.

"A vision. A vision, I thought it was a dream, but it was a vision," Hakyeon explained frantically. "It was from my sister. I didn't remember anything, but I remember everything now. Gods, he's alive."

"What? Who's alive, Hakyeon? You're not making any sense. You're going to wake them all up," Wonshik replied in a harsh whisper. Next to him, Jaehwan groaned and rolled over in his sleep.

"Wake them up. Wake them all up, we need to go back." Hakyeon turned to his left and shook Hyuk's shoulder. "Wake up, we need to go back."

"Hakyeon, stop it!" Wonshik whispered again, scrambling to grab his wrist, but Hyuk was already awake.

"What...?" The elf asked, rolling over in his bedroll to squint up at Hakyeon. "Go back where?"

"Back to Halamshiral," Hakyeon replied.

"Halamshiral?" Wonshik repeated incredulously. "Why?"

"He's back," Hakyeon said, turning to look at Wonshik with panic in his eyes. "My father."

"Wait, what the fuck...?" Hyuk rubbed his eyes and sat up, trying to understand, but still half asleep. "Hakyeon, when we did the ritual, you're the only one we pulled through the rift. Your father has been dead for, like, eight hundred years."

"No," Hakyeon argued, then paused and thought about it. "Well, yes. But it's different. This is different. I had a vision."

At this point, Jaehwan, Taekwoon, and Hongbin were all blinking at him in sleepy confusion. Now that everyone was awake, Hakyeon took the opportunity to try to explain himself fully.

"I had a dream I was back home, in the Divine Age, back when Andraste had given my people the Dales and we built Halamshiral. The buildings were new, and we were celebrating the anniversary of the Long Walk. But then my sister- I had a sister- she was bleeding with a wound in her chest and begging me to stop him and I saw him... you guys, I saw him there, with the bodies of everyone. My friends and family and his advisers and elders and I remember everything, he killed everyone. When you brought me through, you brought him back too. I saw it, he has an army. She said he's going to kill everyone." 

"Who is 'everyone'?" Hongbin asked. "How do we know that's true?"

"I... well, I don't know. Just, everyone," Hakyeon replied, losing some of his steam with a question he didn't know the answer to. "But it has to be true. She showed herself to me as a halla."

"What's a halla?" Jaehwan asked.

"I think it's an elf thing..." Wonshik replied, unsure.

"It's basically a big elf deer," Hyuk sighed, dumbing it down for the people who didn't need a full explanation. "They're pretty important to us."

"But," Hakyeon cut in again, bringing them back to the situation at hand. "It has to be true. Before this, I had forgotten everything but the basics. I killed my father because he was a monster who was killing my people. But I hadn't remembered... I was the prince. He was the king. Our king, and... I had a sister! And a mother, and they were beautiful, and we wore gold, and... the smell of crystal grace and dawn lotus in the spring... and the sound of the children laughing during the festival, and the music..."

Hakyeon didn't realize he was tearing up until Taekwoon put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly. Immediately, Hakyeon wiped his eyes and shook his head.

"Yes. Yes, I'm okay, but we have to go back. He has an army. We can't just leave it. We have to go."

"Uh... I'm not sure..." Jaehwan answered, flicking his eyes from Hakyeon to Taekwoon.

"What? Why?" Hakyeon asked, turning to look at Taekwoon himself.

"It's out of the question," Taekwoon shrugged, rolling up his bedroll. "We can't. My family is looking for us. My brother is trying to kill us. We're staying out of Orlais for at least a year, or until something big happens, like the empress getting murdered or something. Then, at least, the talk will die down, along with my family's need for an alibi for their black sheep son."

"But he's going to kill everyone!" Hakyeon argued.

"You don't even know who everyone is," Taekwoon sighed, brushing him off. "Everyone, pack up. Wonshik, get rid of the fire. Now that we're all awake, let's get moving."

"Where are we going?" Hakyeon asked, doing as he was told and rolling up his bedroll. Taekwoon fixed him with a stern look.

"Further into Ferelden, to find an inn in the next town and relax for a little while. The further into Ferelden we go, the farther from Orlais we get, and the safer we are."

"How far into Ferelden do we plan on going?" Wonshik asked, using a stick to disperse the coals of the fire and smothering them with his boot.

"I don't know. Maybe we'll go through it," Taekwoon shrugged.

"What's on the other side of Ferelden...?" Wonshik wondered.

"Water," Hongbin answered.

"Well, I've always wanted to see the ocean," Taekwoon hummed, starting their trek into the woods. Everyone followed, leaving Hakyeon standing their in their abandoned camp alone. Where were they going? He had a vision, and they were just going to ignore it? Didn't they believe him? How could they ignore this?

"You know what I think we should do with this money," Hyuk piped up, his voice carrying through the trees. "I think we should buy a horse, or a pack mule, so we don't have to carry our beds anymore. Maybe then we can get tents again too."

"I miss the tents," Jaehwan grumbled. "The privacy..."

"Definitely an investment we should plan on making." Hongbin said matter-of-factly. 

Hakyeon sighed. They weren't even thinking about it. He didn't want to go that way, but he couldn't find his way back to Halamshiral on his own either Giving in, he ran to catch up, deciding that he'd just have to convince them to help him some other way.

\--

The next day, they came upon the next town. Hyuk and Hongbin were left to clean up the camp while the rest of them went to scout out an inn with enough vacancies for the six of them. While Hongbin scattered the coals of the fire, Hyuk sat with six rolled up bedrolls, watching him.

"So, what do you think about that whole vision thing?" Hongbin asked vaguely.

"What, with Hakyeon?" Hyuk replied thoughtfully. "I don't know... I've heard about people having visions, but I've never had one."

"People?" Hongbin repeated, pausing to look at him.

"Well, elves. From what I understand about human religion, Andraste and the Maker don't really _do_ visions. But elves can have them... I just have never had one, personally."

"So you think Hakyeon..." Hongbin trailed off, looking for an explanation.

Hyuk thought for a moment before replying. "I'm not really sure. Since I've never had a vision, I can't say whether or not his is true. But, if he said his sister was a halla, and she gave him his memories back... that could mean something."

"So in your opinion..." Hongbin through the stick he was using to spread the coals on top of them, then looked at him again. "In your opinion, should we turn around?"

"Well, it makes sense that we should undo what we did, if that elf zombie really is going to kill a bunch of people. What do you think?"

"I'm not sure. I've never heard of people having visions, unless they're really devout. I'm not sure how religious Hakyeon is, honestly... But I know that halla are really important to elves, so isn't it possible that his brain just made it all up? If we go back to Orlais, we're risking running into Sukcheol again." Hongbin explained.

"You don't think Sukcheol would follow us into Ferelden?" Hyuk asked, cocking his head.

"I think that if he were to do that, at least we'd have the upper hand. Jaehwan and I are from Ferelden. We know what the landscape is like, where the towns are, roughly..."

"But," Hyuk pointed out, "Jaehwan spent his whole life in a tower in Kirkwall. That leaves you. If we're going off who'd have the upper hand in a fight based on who knows the land better, we're probably better off in Orlais. Or maybe in Tevinter, where nobody wants to kill us."

"I don't know," Hongbin sighed, picking up three of the bedrolls so Hyuk could carry the other three. "It just seems supid to walk right back over the border into the hands of people that want us dead because of a dream that Hakyeon had."

"I guess we'll just see what happens," Hyuk shrugged, grabbing the remaining bedding off the forest floor. "Let's go catch up with everyone else."

\--

That night, they all went out for food and drink together, retiring to their rented beds late in the evening. The first full day in the town was full of errands. Wonshik and Hyuk paid a blacksmith to sharpen their weapons and bang out the dents in their armor. Hongbin bought a new bow and Taekwoon purchased a quiver full of arrows at the same shop. Jaehwan dragged them all into a store for mages to look at staffs, even though he had broken, burned, or lost every staff he had ever owned. While everyone was having fun being relaxed and comfortable for once, Hakyeon just looked miserable. He was starting to get bags under his eyes. Wonshik guessed that he was still having weird dreams and wasn't getting much sleep.

He worried about Hakyeon until they got back to the inn for the night, and he found himself pressed up against the door inside his room, with Jaehwan's lips on his. All thoughts of Hakyeon melted away as he brought one hand up to tangle in Jaehwan's hair. The other found a place over Jaehwan's hand on his hip, feeling the key to the room between his fingers. He pulled away, watching Jaehwan lock the door before tossing the key aside and smirking at him. 

"I've been waiting for this," hummed the mage, wrapping his arms around Wonshik's waist and pulling him in close. "We haven't had free time alone in such a long time."

"I know..." Wonshik sighed, closing his eyes as Jaehwan's lips met his neck. The mage's fingers curled around the slack in his shirt and pulled it up and over his head before beginning to kiss at the other side of his neck. Jaehwan's fingers against his skin were red hot, making him gasp at even the slightest touch.

"You're burning me," Wonshik breathed.

"You like it," Jaehwan mumbled into the skin just below Wonshik's ear. Wonshik shivered, letting his head fall back against the door with a dull thud. Jaehwan knew him inside and out, he knew just how to drive Wonshik crazy. Wonshik could feel everything, Jaehwan's tongue and teeth on his skin, Jaehwan's burning touch, Jaehwan's thigh between his legs, pressing up into him. He cursed under his breath, almost losing himself to it, before he remembered something.

"Wait, Jaehwan," He said, putting his hands on Jaehwan's biceps and pushing him back a bit.

"Yes, baby?" Jaehwan hummed, biting his bottom lip to suppress a smile. Wonshik watched Jaehwan's lips for a moment before he could remember why he stopped them.

"I-I need to ask you something. About Hakyeon," Wonshik stammered.

"I don't want to think about Hakyeon right now," Jaehwan sighed, his voice low as he picked up one of Wonshik's hands to kiss his palm and place it on his cheek.

"I..." Wonshik almost gave in again, but he shook his head and soldiered on. "I could kiss you all night, love, but, just real quick..."

"Oh, I hope we do more than kiss," Jaehwan smirked.

"I'm worried about Hakyeon," Wonshik said, trying to ignore the heat on his face at Jaehwan's comment.

"Why would you be worried about him?" Jaehwan asked, this time really listening to him.

"Well, he said he had that dream..." Wonshik thought for a moment before continuing. "I wanted to ask you, have you ever had any visions? I wasn't sure if it was a magic thing, or an elven thing... or maybe just a magic elf thing... I asked Hyuk about it and he said he didn't have them because he wasn't magically inclined."

"Have I ever had any visions?" Jaehwan repeated thoughtfully. "I don't think I have. I know people who have, though. I'm not really religious enough to be receiving visions from the Maker."

"So, you have to be religious to get them?" Wonshik wondered.

"I don't really know," Jaehwan shrugged. "But I think I believe Hakyeon."

"You think his dream was a vision?"

"I think his dream was a vision, and I think he keeps having them, but he's not telling us because Taekwoon shot him down the first time," Jaehwan replied. "As much as I'd like to go help Hakyeon defeat his father and his army and put him back where he belongs, I know the two of us can't do it alone..."

"I wouldn't let you go without me," Wonshik reminded him.

"Well, even so," Jaehwan sighed. "You, me, and Hakyeon, defeating an army? We'd all die."

Wonshik nodded thoughtfully, leaning back against the door and mulling over how they might approach the situation. "So do you think... Do you think that even if all six of us go, we'll die?"

"Realistically, probably," Jaehwan nodded. "But I also think that in the end it's up to Taekwoon as to whether or not we actually go. And, I want to help, really... But what good can the six of us do? We're a band of treasure hunters and mercenaries. I don't know if we _can_ help..."

After a moment of silence, Wonshik piped up again. "If we have the chance to make a choice, I want to help Hakyeon."

"Me too," Jaehwan nodded. "Let's talk to Taekwoon about it tomorrow."

"Yeah," Wonshik nodded back at him. "Let's do that."

"But now..." Jaehwan's thoughtful expression twisted into one of mischief again, taking both of Wonshik's hands and stepping back towards the bed. "Can we relax a little?"

"Relax?" Wonshik repeated, following him easily. "I don't know if relax is the right word."

"Don't be like that," Jaehwan laughed, the sound making Wonshik smile widely as Jaehwan's hands pushed off his shoulders and flung him down onto the bed. "I'll do all the work."

\--

Hakyeon was growing anxious. He didn't know how much longer he could sit around and do nothing. They'd gotten to the inn on the second night and split up into their rooms again, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. He'd been having visions every night since the first one came to him, and he was afraid of what might happen if he ignored them like everyone else. He could be at fault for the deaths of all the people in the towns and settlements surrounding the Dales and Halamshiral. Hakyeon couldn't let that happen. The last time he overlooked something like this, the monster he tried to ignore slaughtered everyone he knew. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't live with all that blood on his hands. So, even though he had brought up the topic and failed two or three times before, he asked again.

"Hakyeon, for the last time, we're not going back," Taekwoon said, dropping his pack on the bed in their room.

"We have to, Taekwoon. I have the same dream every night. She's begging me," Hakyeon pleaded. "He's raising up our old army. He's planning on moving in on every neighboring town in Orlais. People are going to _die_."

"You're just having weird dreams and calling them visions, Hakyeon. Maybe try not to eat so much sugar before bed."

"The only things I've eaten for the past three days are Wonshik's rabbits and this housekeeper's overcooked vegetables!" Hakyeon snapped. "I can't even eat that, I'm so nervous! You have to help me, I can't do this alone. We need to go back."

"When we brought you though, you're the only one who came, Hakyeon. There's nothing else," Taekwoon sighed, looking at him from where he stood on the other side of the bed. "You're worrying about nothing."

"I'm _not_ worrying about nothing, because you _did_ pull someone else through, my father, because you all undid my ritual like a band of- a band of stupid-" Hakyeon sputtered, trying to find the right words to articulate his frustration, his hands waving in the air. "Like a band of foolish treasure hunters!"

"You're crazy," Taekwoon scowled at him.

"Why won't anyone listen to me?" Hakyeon yelled, tangling his fingers in his own hair. Stressed, he began to pace the floor in their little room. "I have to go back! If I don't go back, then all those people will die!"

"You're not going anywhere, Hakyeon," Taekwoon replied, exasperated. "You'll wander into the woods and get lost! Or, you'll follow the roads and get robbed, or killed, or sold into slavery and tossed back over the Orlesian border! Or into Tevinter! You won't make it on your own!"

"Well, I have to do something!" Hakyeon snatched his pouch of herbs off the dresser in their room, as well as his pouch full of his cut of their money from the rich bastard in the last town. He tied both of them to his belt before looking at Taekwoon.

"What are you doing?" Taekwoon asked, his voice with an edge to it, like he was trying to remain calm because he didn't want to set Hakyeon off.

"I'm leaving," Hakyeon snapped, snatching up his knife as well and tucking that into his belt right next to his herbs. "If you don't want to come with me, fine. But I'm leaving. I'll stop my father, or I'll die, I don't care. I don't belong in this time anyways."

"Hakyeon, it's night time already. It's too dark to travel," Taekwoon reasoned, lunging towards him to grab Hakyeon's wrist as he reached for the doorknob.

"I can't sit here and do nothing," Hakyeon countered, hostility in his voice as he looked up at Taekwoon and snatched his hand away. "And even if I wait until morning you won't come with me. You can go across Ferelden, and relax on a beach somewhere. I'm going to stop my father."

"Hakyeon, you'll die if you go alone." Taekwoon found himself almost pleading, afraid of the naive elf going out into the woods in the dark by himself with just some herbs and a knife.

"I'll die if I make it there too, I guess. It seems like it doesn't really matter to you anymore." 

Before Taekwoon could say anything, Hakyeon was gone, slamming the door behind him. For someone so lithe and quiet when he moved, he could sure make his exit known if he wanted to. Taekwoon groaned and sat down on the bed, rubbing his temples. Hakyeon was having crazy dreams, and that was it. Even if they were visions, what could they do? They weren't fit to fight an army. Entering Orlais would only mean dying at the hands of his family. What good would they serve dead?

Rash. Hakyeon was being rash. He'd be back when he realized it was too dark to travel. He'd be back, and Taekwoon would offer him the bed so he could get rid of those dark circles under his eyes, and any mention of Hakyeon's father, Halamshiral, and Orlais would be done. They'd be finished with it all, and they could use their money to relax. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.

He waited up for hours for Hakyeon's return until sleep took him by the brain and he passed out in bed without even taking off his boots.

\--

When Taekwoon opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was Jaehwan and Hyuk leaning over him, staring down at him.

"He's up!" Jaehwan leaned out of his line of vision to wave someone over, leaving him staring up at the cloudy sky. "He's up, come here!"

The second thing he noticed was the walls. They were high, so high it seemed the tops were lost in the clouds, made of stone and covered in moss and vines. As Taekwoon looked around, he realized that the whole courtyard looked overgrown. In the corner there were some objects that looked like ancient instruments, but Taekwoon couldn't be sure. Jaehwan and Hyuk sat next to him, but Hongbin and Wonshik were on the other side of the courtyard, standing in front of a huge pair of wooden doors, intricately decorated with scenes of nature featuring elven gods and goddesses.

"Where are we?" Taekwoon wondered, sitting up.

"This is Halamshiral," Hyuk replied. "Where else are you going to find stuff this overgrown? Those doors are a dead giveaway."

"How the fuck did we get here? We were just in Ferelden," Taekwoon pointed out, getting to his feet to stride across the stone plaza and join Hongbin and Wonshik at the doors.

"We're still figuring that part out," Wonshik said pressing a palm against the ancient wood of the door and looking up at the top of the frame. "This should open, but I think it's stuck."

"Let me try," Taekwoon offered, nudging him out of the way to make an attempt at pushing open the doors. Before he could give them any pressure, a voice sounded from behind them.

"So these are the men who brought him back?"

Taekwoon turned quickly, reaching for his sword at his side to enter a defensive stance, but he simply grasped at air. After a quick, telling glance, he realized all his friends, including himself, were unarmed. In front of them stood a large... deer?

"Yes, a halla!" Hyuk exclaimed, taking a big step towards it and gesturing to it widely, looking back at his four human friends. " _This_ is a halla! In elven culture they stand for unity and peace. Please, never ask me what a halla is ever again."

"It's fucking huge," Hongbin remarked.

"It's really beautiful," sighed Jaehwan.

"I should have chosen a different form," the halla seemingly grumbled. Which was odd, because it didn't really move it's mouth.

"So, there's a talking deer..." Taekwoon caught the minuscule eye-narrow that the animal threw his way and corrected himself. "Halla. There's a talking halla. From my understanding, halla are animals an don't talk. So, if we're being faced by a talking halla, then this is just a dream, right?"

"Technically, this is a dream, yes," the halla replied, a feminine voice echoing off the walls of the courtyard. "This is a dream, but you're all here because I have something to show you."

Slowly, three walls of the courtyard crumbled, giving way to an army of ancient elves, fit with spears and old elven armor. The army surrounded them, huddling them against the doors, the only part of the courtyard still standing. As they approached, Wonshik and Jaehwan pushed on the wood, Taekwoon and Hyuk standing at the ready even though they were unarmed.

"Open it, open it!" Hongbin yelled over the stomps of a hundred feet on the stone.

"It won't budge!" Jaehwan yelled back, panicked.

The elves on the front lines attacked. To Taekwoon's right, Hyuk sidestepped a stab and grabbed the spear to tear it away from his attacker, only for it to break apart in his hands. Taekwoon attempted to twist away from a blow intended at him, only to catch a spear in his side. As the elf roughly pulled the blade out of him, the doors suddenly opened and the five of them fell through. They spilled out onto the main street of an Orlesian town. It only took Taekwoon a moment for him to recognize the place.

"No, this is..." He whispered, cutting himself off as the elves that were just attacking them ran through the wooden doors, past them, and into the town. They ransacked the buildings, dragged people out into the streets and murdered them, and Taekwoon could only watch.

"This is what will happen."

The halla appeared before them once more, shrouding them in what seemed like a bubble of peace in a sea of chaos and destruction.

"My brother informed me that he could not convince you."

"Hakyeon," Taekwoon whispered. He stepped forward, the pain in his side making him limp. He touched a hand to his would and pulled it back to watch the blood drip from his fingers before looking back at the halla. "How do we stop this?"

"Now you want to do something, little lord?" the halla asked him, almost mocking. 

"I'm responsible for these people," Taekwoon confessed. "I have to stop this. Tell me what to do."

"Take him back," she replied.

The scene shifted again, the sun sinking from the sky and the buildings replacing themselves with trees. For a moment, there was silence, before Hakyeon stumbled into the clearing where they stood.

"Hakyeon," Taekwoon exclaimed, opening his arms as the elf moved towards him. "Let's go back. I saw it all, I'll take you back. I'm sorry we fought, I promise I'll-"

"I don't know where I'm going..." Hakyeon mumbled to himself, passing right through Taekwoon and towards the other side of the clearing.

"Hakyeon?" Taekwoon turned to watch him go, confusion twisting the features of his face.

"You have to find him, and take him back. He has to redo the ritual to expel our father into the rift," the halla informed him.

"But," Jaehwan cut in, seemingly thinking along the same lines as Taekwoon. "If he does that, won't he get sucked back in too...?"

"Find him, and take him back," the halla repeated, her voice echoing around them as she and the scene around them began to fade from view. "Redo the ritual, and expel the monster."

Taekwoon opened his eyes a second time, this time right where he was supposed to be. He sat up, looking around the room. There was his sword, leaning against the wall by the window. There were his boots on the floor, his pack, his pouch of money, all in the room of the inn in Ferelden.

"What the fuck..." Taekwoon groaned, wiping a hand down his face. It wasn't until he was finished the action that he realized his hand was slick. He pulled it back, finding it to be covered in blood, the same hand he covered his wound with after he was stabbed in his dream. 

"What the fuck?" he repeated, scrambling to get a better look at his side as he wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve. His shirt and the sheets were both bloody. He rushed to the vanity, pulling up the material of his shirt and twisting to get a better look at his side. There, where he had been injured in his dream, was a white scar in the shape of a spearhead.

"Maker, that's impossible," Taekwoon whispered to himself.

His door burst open, and in spilled Hyuk and Hongbin. Shortly after them came Jaehwan and Wonshik.

"You all had the same dream, right? I'm not crazy, right?" Hongbin asked, the first one to speak.

"Taekwoon, the blood..." Jaehwan gasped, his eyes flicking from the blood on Taekwoon's sheets to the blood on his shirt he'd let fall back over his side.

"We have to find him," Hyuk said surely. "It wasn't just a dream. It was a vision."

"Pack up," Taekwoon ordered, determination in his voice. "We're going back."


End file.
